Happy Holidays
by Supurrkitty
Summary: Part Seven!The story comes to it's climax as all the characters begin to realize what the holidays are all about...of course, some have to make a few more mistakes first before they can fix things...
1. Part One!

Title: Happy Holidays   
  
Author: Supurrkitty   
  
Archive: Fanfiction.net/~Supurrkitty  
  
Rating: pg-13   
  
Warnings: OCs, sexual situations, cussing...(tell me if it should be 'R')   
  
PAIRINGS!!!: 4+OC, 2+OC, some recalling of a 3xOC(not anymore), and hints of 5+H  
  
Part One!  
  
' What a wonderful way to enjoy the first snow of the season...' Quatre thought sarcastically as he looked longingly out the restaurant window at the cold, snowy night outdoors.  
  
" Quatre, turn your head back around! jeesh!" A voice rang in Quatre's ear loudly.  
  
" Fine." Quatre murmured with a sigh and turned his head back in the direction of some of the center tables.  
  
He was sitting alone at a booth near the back of the dark Indian restaurant/bar. Quatre sat with his legs stretched across the bench and crossed at the ankles, he was leaning against the wall and rested his head on his hand, his elbow resting on the table. He kept his head pointed towards the center of the room, where two men were seated at the moment, dressed darkly, but not too unusually. He kept his eyes averted, usually to his coffee cup or the book he had with him. But he would look over at the two men every now and then.  
  
  
  
He himself was dressed in simple jeans, a T-shirt with a jacket around it and a backwards baseball cap. Unusual attire for him, usually, but right now, he wasn't being him.  
  
" Don't sound so down, Quatre." Duo's voice again rang in his ear through the ear piece, " Don't you feel like an undercover FBI agent?"  
  
" Which begs the question, why isn't someone else doing this?" Quatre murmured again, running his hand up the side of his face.  
  
" We're in charge of dissarmament and destruction of weapons." Duo explained, " Sometimes we just need a bit of proof before doing so, hence the camera in that cap you're wearing. Just in case we need to defend ourselves if we kill someone."  
  
" Thanks for explaining that," Quatre said sarcastically just as the waitress came over to him again. She gave him a strange look, thinking he was talking to himself. Quatre looked up at her and smiled.  
  
" More coffee?" She asked and held out the pot. Quatre just nodded and she poured him a cup and quickly walked away. He sighed in relief as he watched her leave.  
  
" You guys see anything yet?" Quatre asked quietly while adding cream to his coffee.  
  
" I see nothing but what you're showing me," Duo said. Quatre sighed in frustration.  
  
" Nothing so far," Trowa's voice rang in, " The preventer officers down the street haven't reported the vehicle yet, either."  
  
" I see how unusually resiliant the insects on this side of town are," Wufei said, making Quatre chuckle a bit, " Other than that, nothing yet..."  
  
" How boring," Quatre groaned.  
  
" Hey, look on the bright side, after this huge assignment closes, we get our vacation time." Duo said, enthusiastically.   
  
" What are you so happy about?" Wufei asked, " You're gonna be stuck serving Haruki the entire time."  
  
" Do you think it will be any worse with me being home?" Duo asked, skeptically, " I mean, she's already screamed me out of the middle of work almost everyday now."  
  
" Now she won't have to do as much work." Wufei said, enjoyment of Duo's woes evident in his tone.  
  
" Oh," Duo sighed and groaned, " I don't know if I can last three more months of this..."  
  
" How do you think Haruki feels?" Quatre asked, but kept his eyes on his book.  
  
" Err...enough about me! What are your plans for Christmas, Quatre?" Duo asked, " Anything new with Akira?"  
  
" *sigh*" Quatre looked away from his book and back to his coffee cup after examining the center of the room, " Not really."  
  
Quatre didn't go into much detail, because he was under cover and obviously didn't want to look suspicious.  
  
" I hear her sister is getting reassigned back here," Wufei changed the subject, " She's supposed to be coming over during our time off."  
  
" Umeko's coming?" Duo asked, lightening up, " Haven't seen her since we went to get those new recruits, hey Quatre?"  
  
" Yeah," Quatre answered, his mind elswhere.  
  
" So, Trowa," Duo held mischeif in his voice, " You looking forward to being able to "work" with her again?"  
  
" Shut up, Duo..." Trowa said sternly.  
  
" But, I don't understand how a woman with such good advice about relationships could-"   
  
" I said, shut UP, Duo." Trowa repeated a little more strictly.  
  
" I'd do what he says, Duo." Wufei said.  
  
Quatre just rolled his eyes. They would never be able to let Trowa live that down, especially not Duo. The way he used to carry on and tease Trowa about it drove everyone crazy. But, it seemed to have dissapeared when Umeko had.  
  
" Hey," Trowa cut into his thoughts, " The vehicle has been spotted."  
  
" About time," Wufei grumbled.  
  
" Here we go," Duo said happily.  
  
" They've parked..." Trowa explained, " Watch your enterance, Wufei."  
  
Wufei stayed silent, so Quatre supposed that their long awaited restaurant customers were about to enter. He adjusted his cap slightly to make sure it was right on the table even if he wasn't looking at it.  
  
" That's good, " Duo told Quatre as two more men dressed in suits entered the restaurant. Quatre glanced over more oftenly, but tried not to look too suspicious. He cursed in his head, wondering why Duo didn't do this part, he was obviously more suited for the job.  
  
The men exchanged welcomes with the shaking of hands. Quatre noticed in the shifting of coats that at least one of them were armed. Some words were exchanged before they got to work. two of the men pulled out suitcases and one of them had a large manilla folder. One man pulled a laptop out of one case and started to type away on it. Then, he turned it around and allowed the first two to view it. One smiled widely and the other handed over the manilla folder.  
  
" Check your goods man," Duo was saying, " Where's the disk?"  
  
As Duo was saying this, the man opened the folder and a silver disk slipped out and into his hands. It contained information on the whereabouts of an underground, working MS factory as well as all the information needed to continue building these dangerous weapons.  
  
" Got it!" Duo said, " Go for it guys!"  
  
Quatre nodded to himself and grabbed a gun out of his jacket as Wufei came in through the front door, gun also drawn.  
  
" Hands up guys, you'r done here." Wufei said in a booming voice.  
  
The men looked between Wufei and Quatre before two drew their guns and prepared to shoot. Wufei took a shot at one guys hand and hit it square. The man yelled as the gun went flying. The other man dropped his gun and put up his hands.  
  
Within minutes, they had all the men cuffed and sent off in some vans.  
  
" They didn't put up much of the fight, now, did they?" Duo came out from the car that he was doing surveilance in after they all filed outside. He was dressed in black, of course, and he had a dark jacket to keep him warm, but he also has a red and white scarf wrapped around his neck.   
  
" I suck at that," Quatre complained, pulling out his ear piece, hat still on backwards, " why didn't you do it, Duo, you're much better at that."  
  
" I've got a family to think about," Duo said, only half serious as he grinned widely. " And it was rather comfy in that car with the nice heater."  
  
Duo directed the last comment to Wufei who was walking up to the two as they slowly walked to the car to leave. Wufei had been sitting out in the cold most of the time, so he simply smacked Duo over the head. It was already late and they could think of nothing better, but to report back to a warm, familiar...office.  
  
" So," Duo started, rubbing his head, " What are you going to do with your week, Wufei?"  
  
Wufei seemed to stop for a second and give it a little bit of thought before giving Duo a quick glare and replying " Nothing".  
  
Quatre and Duo looked at each other suspiciously before Quatre just shrugged and looked back ahead of him.  
  
" Wait, you never told me what you were doing, Quat." Duo stated.  
  
" For obvious reasons," Quatre stated, "But, if you must know now. I too, am doing absolutely nothing, besides that Christmas dinner my sisters always set up for the family friends."  
  
" You inviting Kira?" Duo asked.  
  
" Even if I did, who says she'd come?" Quatre asked bitterly.  
  
" Quatre, you've been-...ah, nevermind, you're hopeless anymore," Duo said as he saw Trowa walk up.  
  
" Everything's taken care of, we just need to report back and..."   
  
" So, what are you doing for Christmas?" Duo asked full of interest.  
  
" Staying away from annoying, rude people like you," Trowa said.  
  
" Haha...no, really," Duo tried to keep a straight face, " Are you gonna help Umeko unpack?"  
  
" Duo I swear, if you don't shut up..." Trowa started.  
  
" You wouldn't shoot me, that's too...Heero like..." Duo said, waving Trowa off.  
  
" No, but I would stab you." Trowa said with a stern look.  
  
Deciding it might be best to not reply to the disturbed ex-pilot, Duo blinked ahead of him, then looked up at the sky as flakes of white continued to fall, covering all the already slippery surfaces. He smiled as he watched the hypnotic motions of swirling ice falling from the darkness of fluffy snow clouds at eleven o'clock at night. He stuck his tongue out until a flake landed on it, promptly melting and leaving him with a burning sensation. He pulled his tongue back in and shuffled his feet to pick up the fresh powder as he looked across the brightly lit street at all the colorful christmas decorations and trees in some store windows.  
  
" I love the holidays."  
  
A/N~ Okay, so I guess I can't really see how anything can be R in this chapter...but it gets worse! I promise!...maybe that's...NOT a good thing...meh...please review! 


	2. Part Two!

Title: Happy Holidays   
  
Author: Supurrkitty   
  
Archive: Fanfiction.net/~Supurrkitty  
  
Rating: pg-13   
  
Warnings: OCs, sexual situations, cussing...(tell me if it should be 'R')   
  
PAIRINGS!!!: 4+OC, 2+OC, some recalling of a 3xOC(not anymore), and hints of 5+H  
  
Part Two!  
  
Quatre made a low grumbling noise as he trailed into the building behind the other three Preventers. The time had come for the paper work. Perhaps it was not as life threatening, but it was still the most feared part of their job. Quatre lagged behind as they all walked through the first floor towards the elevator. He stopped momentarily to glance towards the Engineering department, wondering if Akira was still there. Of course not, he assured himself, remembering the time.  
  
" Quatre," Duo prodded, impatiently as he held the elevator door open for his friend and partner.  
  
Quatre sighed and went into the elevator and watched the ouside world dissapear as the door closed.  
  
" You know, she's probably still here," Trowa said, " I hear her boss had her team on a deadline for before our break. That team takes it's break the same time we do."  
  
" Oh yeah," Duo said, " It was for that report on those new generators. It's not much, but they sure do like to work the tails off of the newbies down there."  
  
" Really?" Quatre said, almost disinterested.  
  
" What's up with you two lately, anyways?" Duo asked, annoyed by his friend's lack of reaction.  
  
The elevator beeped and the door slid open again before anyone could say anything else. Quatre departed from the group and headed directly for his own office, shutting the door firmly behind him.  
  
Duo looked over at Trowa and Wufei for possible guidance on the matter. Wufei shook his head and headed for his own office.  
  
" They're probably going through the normal new couple experiences..." Duo said with a smile.  
  
" I dunno, Duo," Trowa said as he went towards his office, " maybe they just don't share any sort of feelings for each other like they thought they might. Did you and Haruki ever go through something like this?"  
  
" Well..." Duo started to frown, " No..."  
  
" It doesn't look good for those two," Trowa stated before going into his office.  
  
Duo frowned and went into his own office. He took a look around at the cluttered, yet orderly room. All the papers were in piles, but would do better in files. Duo took note of this for the thousandth time and flopped down on his comfy chair at his desk. He turned towards his computer and quickly logged in to get his report done as quick as possible. He was interupted by his telephone ringing. He sighed before picking it up.  
  
" Hello?" He asked in an irritated voice.  
  
" Duo Maxwell!" His soon to be wife/mother of his unborn child answered him on the other side, making him wish he had a vid phone in there so he could have answered in a more polite manner, " It is tomorrow already, why are you not home?"  
  
Duo glanced at the small clock on his desk and, sure enough, it was half past midnight. How he survived these long all-nighters, he never knew.  
  
" They have me working late, sweetheart," Duo said as sweet as he possibly could, " But I promise I will be home soon, then we will have the entire week."  
  
" ..." Haruki gave out a defeated sigh on the other end, " Fine, but remind Une that I will not allow her to keep overworking my future husband, that's my job."  
  
" I'll make sure she knows," Duo said with a chuckle, " I need to finish up now, love, but I'll see you when I'm through, alright?"  
  
" I'll be here as usual," Haruki sighed at her current, rather pregnant, state, " don't kill yourself on this, though."  
  
" I won't" Duo smiled, " I love you."  
  
" I love you, too," Haruki said genuinely, " bye."  
  
Duo hung up the phone and turned his attention back to his work. He rubbed his eyes in exhaustion and decided he would not make it through the night unaided. He got up and headed towards the breakroom for his good friend, coffee.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Quatre sat, typing away at his report as fast as he could. His insomnia was bad enough already, he didn't need work keeping him away from his restless sleep. He had connected to the phone line to look up his resources and kept a window open while he wildly flew through the sentences that seemed to get longer and longer the more he stared at the screen.   
  
His moment of trance was ended when something popped up on his screen.  
  
SilentS149: Akira's online, you know. I just talked to her.  
  
Quatre stared at the message for a moment, recognizing the IM as Trowa. He contemplated the meaning and why Trowa cared or thought he cared. He sighed and saved his report before answering back.  
  
QRWblue: Oh yeah?  
  
SilentS149: Idiot.  
  
Quatre jumped back at the answer. This seemed rather strange to hear from Trowa. Perhaps it was just that he was bolder online, but stil...  
  
QRWblue: what  
  
SilentS149: Are you even trying anymore?  
  
SilentS149: Talk to her  
  
Quatre looked at the question and command and contemplated them both. Was he trying anymore? What, with his relationship with Akira? What an interesting proposition that he was the soul reason that they both seemed to be drifting apart. No, it wasn't him, Akira was just too shy. She didn't want to continue their relationship.  
  
SilentS149: You've been avoiding her  
  
Trowa messaged after a while of silence. Quatre got to thinking again. Had he been avoiding her? Well, maybe... Maybe Trowa was right and it was his fault. Did he lose interest in a relationship with Akira just because she was wierd about commitment and closeness? Maybe...  
  
QRWblue: Alright  
  
Quatre closed the window and went to IM Akira.  
  
QRWblue: What are you doing up so late?  
  
SereneNight73: Finishing up my report. you?  
  
QRWblue: Starting my report  
  
SereneNight73: I'm sorry  
  
QRWblue: I'll have it done before sunrise  
  
SereneNight73: Well, that's good  
  
There was a long silence left. Quatre had no idea what to say and, frankly, he felt a little uncomfortable.  
  
SereneNight73: I think we need to talk  
  
QRWblue: Or so the critics say  
  
SereneNight73: Trowa's kind of been my confidant  
  
QRWblue: I was kind of hoping I would be  
  
There was another long silence.  
  
SereneNight73: Maybe things aren't as good as I was hoping  
  
QRWblue: Maybe  
  
SereneNight73: I'm all done here, do you want to meet somewhere?  
  
QRWblue: I'm busy for a while  
  
SereneNight73: Alright then, bye  
  
Akira logged off and shut down her computer. She tore off her glasses and smoothed out her wavy black hair, which was now growing down her upper back. She stood up and just looked down at the dark screen with her dark, emerald eyes, thinking over what just happened. Their relationship had just begun and already it looked like the end of it was near. Was this the beginning of a painful goodbye? Tears came to Akira's eyes and she sat back down in her chair and buried her head in her hands. She started to sob out of control.  
  
Since she didn't have her own office, she was stuck in a cubicle room, surrounded by her fellow, bottom-line engineers. There were four others there that were on her team, they were still working on their reports. They were all males, except for Akira. A guy in the next cubicle heard sounds coming from his only female team member's area. He stepped up on his chair and glanced over the wall and at his heartbroken comrade. He blinked at her state, then jumped down and saw that the other three guys were now in his cubicle giving him questioning looks.  
  
" Is she done with her report?" One of them asked.  
  
" Yeah, she already sent it to the boss ten minutes ago," The guy answered.  
  
" Well, what's wrong with her?"   
  
" I dunno, stress?"  
  
" I'll never understand women."  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Wufei took a break from his rapid typing and cracked his knuckles. He stood up and went to get a cup of coffee. When he opened the door to the breakroom, he noticed the smell that suggested someone had already made up a pot. He looked around the room and noticed Duo. He was sittin in a chair at the table, but he was asleep, resting his head in his folded arms. He looked like he was about to fall over.  
  
Wufei smiled and went over to tap on Duo's shoulder. Duo fidgeted awake and looked up at Wufei with tired eyes. He looked around him startled and then looked back to Wufei.  
  
" Shit, how long have I been sleeping!?" Duo asked him.   
  
" Well, it's a bit past one..." Wufei said, glancing at a clock.  
  
" Damnit!" Duo banged his head on the table a few times, making Wufei look at him strangely.  
  
" Hey, maybe you should go home and get some sleep, Duo." Wufei said.  
  
" No!" Duo said, jumping up suddenly, startling Wufei, " Then I'll have to come in tomorrow!"  
  
" Eh," Wufei gave Duo a little shove towards the door, " You need to go home to your woman."  
  
" What about my report!?" Duo whined.  
  
" I'll watch the recording and finish up for you," Wufei offered.  
  
" Really?" Duo asked, exhaustion still evident in his voice.  
  
" Yeah. Really," Wufei said, giving him another shove.  
  
" Gee, I don't know how to repay..." Duo started.  
  
" Start by taking the bus." Wufei said, " I'll think of something else..."  
  
Duo patted his hand on Wufei's shoulder and smiled at him.  
  
" You know, Wufei, you're a really good friend."  
  
" Err, yeah." Wufei blinked, " Go home."  
  
With that Duo left the room and Wufei shook his head and went to get a cup of coffee.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
(Happy single Trowa time!)  
  
Trowa smiled slightly at the print-out of his report and stuck it in a manilla folder and put it in Une's in-box. He wiped his hands as if just having dug a dirt ditch and grabbed his briefcase and jacket to leave. He met Duo at the elevator.  
  
" You finish up already?" He asked Duo.  
  
" Naw," Duo said, tiredly, " Wufei said he'd do it, said I needed to go home to my 'woman' and sleep..."  
  
" I'd have to agree with him," Trowa chuckled as the elevator beeped for the bottom floor. Both Duo and Trowa stepped out and started to head for the front door.  
  
" You seem kind of happy for a single guy during the holidays," Duo stated to Trowa.  
  
" Thanks," Trowa said, sarcastically.  
  
" No, really," Duo smiled, " Do you really think you'll get that much sympathy from Umeko?"  
  
" I'm not sure I fallow," Trowa said, a little agitated.  
  
" 'Poor Trowa is all alone on Christmas while all his friends have coupled off' I'm sure she'd love to give you a little " pick-me-up" when you're down..." Duo said slyly.  
  
" Y'know," Trowa stopped, " As a best friend, you really don't do her justice. Besides, there's nothing between us and there will never be. There's just...nothing..."  
  
" Yeah, whatever..." Duo said, looking boredly out to the glass front of the building, " Aah! That's the bus! Later, Mr. Denial!"  
  
Duo waved before racing to meet the bus.  
  
" I don't see how any of this has to do with the Nile..." Trowa murmured to himself, then awed at the emptiness of the large building. It was dark and quite, a state that Trowa hadn't noted before when he was working late. He thought over some of the things Duo had said to him. He shook his head, deciding that he shouldn't pay much mind to Duo when he's tired or intoxicated. Though, he sort of had a strange point about Trowa being particularly lonely this time of year...  
  
" That's ridiculous..." Trowa tried to reassure himself out loud. Then he remembered talking to Akira and Quatre on the computer earlier. First Akira IMed him, and they talked about what was going on with her and Quatre. She seemed rather unhappy about how things were going, how Quatre was pulling away from her and getting fed up with their relationship. She told Trowa that if they couldn't talk it through or if Quatre just didn't want to fix it, then she too would give up, and it would be over. Trowa was worried about her, she was taking it rather bad. He didn't know how it had turned out between her and Quatre, so he was oddly curious. He didn't want to intrude, but...  
  
Trowa turned towards where Akira's office area was and sighed.  
  
" If everything's good between them, then she'll be happy to talk to me. And if it isn't...well, she'll want someone to talk to..." If she's not balling her eyes out, Trowa added in his thoughts bitterly. Quatre's attitude really was starting to get on his nerves lately. He nodded to himself, deciding to go visit Akira in her work place.  
  
He walked off towards the engineering office, smiling at his decision.  
  
A/N- Okay, so it wasn't really fun...actually it was kind of depressing! *beats self* I'm slipping inot old habits! Why don't I just work on my OTHER depressing stories....*sigh* well, I can only pray that this gets better...like a sitcom!(??????????)...less like a soap opera...*is famous for OC soap-like stories* sploot...*pouts*...  
  
I wil be...original!  
  
Especially if I keep mispelling "will"!  
  
Or, I will(haha, nailed that one!) be an idiot!  
  
sploot~~~~  
  
~Supurrkitty 


	3. Part Three!

Title: Happy Holidays   
  
Author: Supurrkitty   
  
Archive: Fanfiction.net/~Supurrkitty  
  
Rating: pg-13   
  
Warnings: OCs, sexual situations, cussing...(tell me if it should be 'R')   
  
PAIRINGS!!!: 4+OC, 2+OC, some recalling of a 3xOC(not anymore), and hints of 5+H, but it all kind of changed in this chapter, so I guess you could say: 2+OC(Haruki), no more 4+OC(Akira), still recalling of 3+OC(Umeko), still 5+H, and now the fun one, 3+OC(Akira!)but will it last???  
  
Note- I bet you guys are wondering where Heero is, huh?  
  
Part Three!  
  
Duo sighed silently after he blinked his eyes open. The sun on his face had woken him before he wanted. He could just turn around and sleep on his other side, averting himself from the rays of light, but...  
  
Duo looked down at Haruki still asleep, wrapped in his embrace. She had hold of one of his hands and had affectively disabled his right arm by being on top of it. Duo now noticed that he held no feeling in that apendage and it would hurt and be all tingly like when he moved it, if he ever could. He just didn't have the heart to do anything that would wake her, so he stayed still and looked towards the clock on the small table. At least it was at a decent hour, 9 in the morning, he had gotten enough sleep.  
  
Despite the time of day, the time of year took over the climate and the lack of a working heater in their small apartment made the room unwelcomingly cold, except for Haruki laying beside him. Duo beat himself mentally at the lack of funds to provide much needed care for his partner and child. He looked down at his lover's swelling belly before closing his eyes again and burying his face in her hair.  
  
" Mmm..." Haruki moaned, waking up.  
  
Duo opened his eyes again and gave her hand a light squeeze. She groggily opened her own eyes and smiled as she realized the strong arms wrapped around her and the body behind her. She let go of Duo's hand and he smiled, greatfully slipping the sore hand away. She moved off of his arm and rested on her elbows, giving Duo an apologetic look. He just chuckled and shook his head, but his expression completely changed as he saw his love rise from the bed and rush towards the bathroom. He got up to fallow her, concerned. These were the times when he felt worst about what he had done, but she kept telling him the worst was yet to come, which made him wonder if he'd ever have sex again.  
  
Making it into the bathroom, Duo observed Haruki bent over the toilet, losing everything she ate the day before. Duo bit his lip as he knelt down beside her and pulled her hair back away from her face. He tried to keep his gaze away from the former contents of her stomach and winced at every wretching sound she made.  
  
" I'm sorry..." Duo said somewhere in the middle, but aparently, Haruki didn't hear him.  
  
When she seemed to be done she spit a few times and Duo flushed the toilet, thankful to see it all dissapear. She let out a few long breaths, then wiped her mouth with her sleeve, sitting up straighter. Duo let go of her hair and it fell back around her. She smiled greatfully at him.  
  
" Y'know, these morning sicknesses just seem to be getting worse and the abdominal pains, too..." Haruki seemed to trail off, then smiled at Duo warmly, " I didn't hear you come in last night."  
  
" Good, I guess I didn't wake you, then," Duo said absently, " Haruki, do you...wanna see a doctor about this...?"  
  
" It's alright, Duo," Haruki rubbed her eyes, " They'll just tell me it's to be expected in a pregnancy, nothing big."  
  
" You sure?" He asked, concerned.  
  
" Yeah..." Haruki gave a reassuring smile, " Did you finish your report?"  
  
" Sure did," Duo smiled at the change of subject, " So now you have me all week. What are your first orders?"  
  
" To stay right here with me," She said in a demanding tone, smiling.  
  
" Glad to hear it..." His words were fallowed by more wretching as Haruki bent over the toilet again. He grabbed her hair back and rubbed her arm for reassurance. As painful, and disgusting, as it was seeing his love in so much pain, he was glad to be there. He was happy he was able to hold her hair back for her and help her wash up afterwords and then take orders from her all day. There was nowhere else he'd rather be.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Quatre jolted up with a slight start, and then looked around to see what woke him. While he was deciding it was nothing, he noticed something odd.  
  
He was still in his office.  
  
Quatre stretched back in his chair and finally found out fully what it meant to have "slept all wierd". It was absolutely terrible! He had never felt so bad in his life!  
  
Well, maybe during the wars.  
  
His neck felt crooked, his bones felt stiff, his head throbbed from the hard desk, and his clothes were still damp and uncomfortable from the melted snow the night before. What was worse, he started sniffling and he was nauseus beyond belief.  
  
" Well, fuck," Quatre murmured as he stood up and stretched painfully.  
  
He checked to make sure he had finished his report and then turned it in. He racked his brain to remember what he needed to bring home. As he was searching his desk, he remembered what had happened last night between him and Akira.  
  
" Did I break up with her?" He asked himself as he grabbed his jacket and briefcase, " I guess so..."  
  
His shoulder started to ache worse and he moved it around to try and pop it, but to no avail. Maybe all this was from Karma? No, he hadn't done anything wrong, had he? All that Karma shit was just a load of crap, anyways, Quatre kept telling himself. He sighed and decided he just needed to go home and put on some non-moldy clothes and get some actual sleep.  
  
Unfortunately, sleep did not come easy for him after a message from one of his sisters informed him that they were canceling the company party and that she took the liberty to organize another party and had already sent out invitations to all of his friends. All of them, except for Heero, whom she couldn't track down. He supposed it would have to be a miracle if, after all the searching and calls the others and himself had made, his sister would find the missing Heero Yuy. If he was gone, it was for a reason and if it was for a good reason, no one would ever find him. Quatre kept banging his head with the palm of his hand. Having all of his friends over, including Akira, was the last thing he wanted to do at the moment. Things would be wierd between him and Akira, and Trowa and Duo probably wouldn't be too happy, considering that, for the last week, they had been telling him how stupid he was. Trowa especially, since him and Akira seemed to be such good friends lately.  
  
Oh, if Quatre only knew.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Trowa stared at the ceiling for minutes pondering his situation.   
  
Must not panic, must keep calm...  
  
Well, shit, doesn't it seem a little too late to try to keep my wits about me, Trowa asked himself. There wasn't much he could do about it now. Keeping a calm demeanor about him, Trowa sat up and slipped into his underwear and pants. He got up and paced a few times before running a hand through his hair and sighing in the direction of the bathroom. He was about to head that way, when a shrill gasp stopped him. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath before turning back around to face the bed.  
  
Akira sat on the bed, clinging a blanket tightly to her and looking completely lost in a hopeless dissaray. She seemed to be looking around her for an explanation, and then landed her eyes on the half-naked Trowa and her features filled with a terrified shock. Trowa gave her a half smirk and a small shrug. That's when she looked as if she were going to break donw in sobs and Trowa wondered if he should have said something or not.  
  
" Wh-...w....ah... w-wha..." Akira fumbled to say asomething until she finally let out: " Wh-where...are my...glasses?"  
  
" Your glasses?" Trowa couldn't help but laugh, but then stopped, seeing the look on Akira's face had not left. His gaze avoided her and traveled towards the floor and happened to spot something.  
  
" Oh, uhm," Trowa winced at the sight of the shattered frame and then pointed to it, " I'm afraid that's your last pair..."  
  
Gasping again, Akira bent over the side of the bed and searched through a few articles of clothing, before coming up with her broken glasses. She stared down at them in her hands, remembering how she had broken her other pair of glasses. That was when something snapped in her mind and she started laughing.   
  
" What?" Trowa asked in the middle of her histerics, slightly frightened.  
  
" It's odd, really," Akira managed to say, " and...I...I think..."  
  
Her laughing was being broken up by sobbing and she struggled even more to talk.  
  
" I'm...gonna...start wearing...contacts..." That was when she let the sobs win over the laughter and buried her face in her hands.  
  
" Akira...I...," Trowa took a few steps forward, but stopped himself, " I'd hug you, but I'm afraid that'd be out of line at this point."  
  
Akira slowed her sobs and looked up at Trowa.  
  
" Akira, I'm so sorry," Trowa apalogized, " You can beat me if you'd like."  
  
" Oh, Trowa, it's not your fault," Akira said with a drowned chuckle, " You've been such a good friend to me..."  
  
" I'm afraid I don't share your views on good friends," Trowa chuckled as well, " Do all good friends of the opposite gender always do this, I'm just curious."  
  
" No," Akira said, laughing, but then stopped and smiled at Trowa, " Trowa, how did this happen?"  
  
"..." Trowa scratched his head and sighed, " I'm afraid last night is kind of a blur...well, most of it...I do remember excessive amounts of drinking and I'm pretty sure we..."  
  
" Argh!" Akira held her head again, " what're we gonna do!?  
  
" What is there to do..." Trowa leaned back against his hands on his dresser, but felt cloth underneath his fingers. He picked it up and looked at it, then blushed slightly.  
  
" Here," Trowa said, tossing her her bra. Akira caught it, then blushed up at Trowa. He turned around so she could get dressed.  
  
" Well, we can't undo what we've done..." Akira said, snapping her bra back on, then something hit her, " Do you think we...uh...used protection...?"  
  
" Uh..." Trowa blushed down at the top of his dresser, " I always take care of things like that, don't worry."  
  
" Oh really?" Akira asked, mischeviously, while putting on the rest of her clothes, hurriedly " You do this often or just think about it alot?"  
  
" Don't expect me to answer that," Trowa chuckled, then looked seriously downward in thought, " is there...anything wrong with what we did?"  
  
" Trowa..." Akira looked at her friend's back as she pulled her shirt on, " I...well, what we did...didn't make much sense...well, it made perfect sense when we were drunk, but...I dunno. You know I love you Trowa, you've been my greatest friend ever since I came here. You're my friend and I love you. I'm done getting dressed."  
  
" Maybe that's it, " Trowa said, turning back around and looking at Akira.  
  
" What?" Akira asked, curiously.  
  
" Oh, I was just wondering what drove us to do what we did," Trowa smiled nervously, " I guess being drunk just made us confuse ourselves..."  
  
  
  
" Y-yeah..." Akira agreed uncertainly.  
  
Trowa smiled and pushed himself away from the dresser and went over to Akira, who smiled sadly back up at him. He took her up in a warm hug and chuckled.  
  
" Don't worry," Trowa said, " We're still just friends, right?"  
  
" Right," Akira agreed.  
  
" And I won't go bragging to my friends," Trowa joked, " Not this time anyways."  
  
Akira pulled away from him slightly and gave him a playful punch. Trowa faked a wince and they both laughed together. They stopped, though, and Trowa looked down at her, bringing his forehead to hers and still smiling. The smile faded from Akira's features and she looked seriously up at Trowa.  
  
" It's just...drunken hormones..." Trowa's smile faded and he looked softly back down at Akira, his warm breath tingling her nose. Akira was captivated by his warmth in the cold morning and she felt her eyes start to close. They weren't sure who moved where, but their lips came closer together until they were touching and they started kissing, hungry for the warmth of the other. Putting his hand behind Akira's head, he sought to deepen the kiss and Akira complied. They eagerly kissed each other, not noticing that they had started letting their own hands wander. As quick as it began, so it seemed to end and they both pulled away from each other, afraid to go further. They both adjusted any clothing that had been affected and kept from looking at each other. Then, they both acted like nothing had even happened.  
  
" Well, would you like me to take you home," Trowa said, putting on a shirt and grabbing his jacket and keys.  
  
" Yes, that would be so nice of you," Akira said, grabbing her coat and bag and fallowing Trowa.  
  
And he took her home to her own apartment in complete silence.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Wufei sighed impatiently and checked his watch. He looked around the corner of the street again as he leaned against the side of the small bakery. He adjusted his hat to keep the sun out of his eyes and stared at the ground.  
  
" Chang!" A shrill female voice called out to him from the street. He picked up his head and looked over at the busy crosswalk. A short, dark-haired woman pushed her way through the crowd, offending many and glaring forward. She made it through and ran to Wufei, giving him a shove with her shoulder.  
  
" Do you really think you can just order me around over the phone!?" Hilde glared up at him.  
  
" You came, didn't you?" Wufei asked in amusement.  
  
" Humph!" Hilde crossed her arms and looked away, " what do you want anyways?"  
  
" What? I can't just want to see you?" Wufei asked, " I wanted to talk to you about Duo and Haruki."  
  
" Oh." Hilde said angrilly after hearing the last part, " Y'know, sometimes I'm stupid enough to think you actually care about me, but then you go and remind me that it's not within your ability to do so."  
  
" What's that supposed to mean?" Wufei asked, knowing full well what she meant.  
  
" Nothing," Hilde waved him off and looked back at the road, then looked back at Wufei curiously, " Why did you want to talk about Duo and Haruki?"  
  
" Oh, I just wanted to know how they're doing," Wufei explained, " Duo's been...distracted lately...do you know if anything's wrong?"  
  
" Why don't you just ask Duo yourself?" Hilde asked, defensively.  
  
" That's not how guys work, Hil," Wufei chuckled, " Besides you talk to those two more than anyone I know."  
  
" Why are you so interested in other's affairs," Hilde asked, pulling off his hat and putting it on her own head, " It's not like you."  
  
" Well," Wufei paused, " Like I said, Duo's been distracted at work and I just want to make sure he has a good reason for disrupting out harmonic working environment."  
  
" Liar," Hilde jabbed him with her elbow and smiled, " You're not very convincing."  
  
" That's my story and I'm sticking to it," Wufei said, " Answer my questin now?"  
  
"..." Hilde sighed  
  
" That bad?"   
  
" No...no," Hilde shook her head, thoughtfully, " It could be worse, but...I'm worried, about both of them. Their apartment is crap and Duo still refuses to ask for a raise from Une, but I'm sure you knew that. Haruki's doing bad...I keep telling her...but, she won't see a doctor...I dunno, maybe I'm wrong, I suppose I wouldn't know, having never been pregnant before...Wufei, I'm scared...what if she loses the baby?"  
  
Wufei sighed and then smiled at Hilde and wrapped his arm around her shoulders, giving her a reassuring squeeze. He couldn't think of anything to say to her. He didn't know if anything would happen or if anything was actually wrong, but he didn't like to see Hilde worry like this.  
  
" Don't worry, " Wufei said quitely and smiled, " C'mon, let's go get something to eat."  
  
Hilde just nodded, her eyes looking teary. Wufei often found himself staring, captivated by her kind, yet fierce eyes. There was just something about everything about her that made it impossible for him to ever think of being away from her. He loved her too much, he just couldn't help himself. He wondered if he'd ever tell her those three words. He had never said them in his life, but now felt like the right time. Hell, every moment he was around her felt like the right time! But, when he thought through just saying it on impulse, it seemed ridiculous and awkward for him and he would always decide against it. Besides, he'd never even had the guts to ever kiss her! Now that he thought about that, he wondered if they were actually an item. They didn't exactly go out on dates or anything, just did things any 'friends' would, but they had grown closer after being around each other often. Yeah, Hilde herself had told Wufei she loved him, but it was more of in a flush of excitement.  
  
Wufei smiled at the thought of that event that kept him up for nights. They were in the park at the lake, because Hilde said she wanted to see the ducks. Wufei was sitting on a bench, watching, amused, as Hilde tried to climb on some rocks sticking up from the water. But when he noticed her about to step on a slippery looking rock, he was quick to get to her and steady her as she started to lose her balance. But, he ended up falling in the water himself. The next thing he remembered, he was at the edge of the water, wringing out his shirt and Hilde was kneeling beside him, laughing.  
  
" Why are you laughing?" Wufei asked angrilly, " I just saved your ass."  
  
" Oh, Wufei," Hilde wrapped her arm around his neck and gave him a kiss on the cheek, " I love you."  
  
Wufei didn't say anything after that. He was glad now that he didn't ruin the moment, but he still wondered if he could have made it a better memory. But, he was content with just the memory of the closest he had ever been to her.  
  
Their relationship was...disfunctional, to say the least  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Akira came out of her bathroom with only a towel on and her hair up. She went and checked for any messages, then went over to her front door and picked the mail up from the floor, where it was always slid under the door. She sighed and flipped through the envelopes until she came across one that didn't look like a bill. She slit it open with her finger and let the card inside fall into her hand. She unfolded it and read to herself. She frowned and dropped all the mail down on her small, cherry-wood table and flopped down on the couch across from it.   
  
  
  
She sat staring at the mail for minutes before getting up again and picking it up. She read through it again and bit her bottom lip. Then she looked off into space, pondering what to do. Finally, she nodded to herself and walked into her bedroom. She had made her decision:  
  
She was going to Quatre's party.  
  
to be continued...  
  
A/N- Okay, so I haven't exactly been fitting my genre's. I'm gonna have to change it...I guess, no matter how hard I try, my style of writing will always remain the same. Sure, I might be able to pop out a one-shot, one-genre every now and then, but, overall, these type of stories I do will always be what I'm happy with and if I can leave some sort of impression on this fandom, be it from shock, movement, or laughter, then I guess I'm not doing half bad, huh? The important thing is, I am fulfilling what I feel needs to be fulfilled and putting forth a message I feel needs to be heard. Your own good ideas and inspiration might seem feeble or quaint to others, but they are your own and are the product of your hard work and passion. For this I respect every writer, original or fanfiction, novice or veteran, praised or flamed, because as long as they have a passion and the motivation to see through their own ideas and inspiration, they have a wonderful story. It doesn't matter what anyone else thinks about it, it's going to be a wonderful story.  
  
~Supurrkitty  
  
P.S.- I suck 


	4. Part Four!

Title: Happy Holidays

Author: Supurrkitty

Archive: pg-13

Warnings: OCs, sexual situations, cussing...(tell me if it should be 'R')

PAIRINGS: 4+OC, 2+OC, some recalling of a 3xOC(not anymore), and hints of 5+H, but it all kind of changed in the last chapter, so I guess you could say: 2+OC(Haruki), no more 4+OC(Akira), still recalling of 3+OC(Umeko), still 5+H, and now the fun one, 3+OC(Akira!)but will it last?

Part Four!

"Augh!" Quatre groaned loudly as he messed up his hair, "Of all the fricken times..."

Quatre stopped, remembering just why so many people were not busy working for other people at this time. Christmas. He probably should have hired someone to do his Christmas shopping long before now, now it was too late.

"What? Does the world just stop this time of year?" Quatre got up from his desk at home and walked over to the window. The snow had stopped from the day before, but a thin coat of white still lined everything. Snow wasn't Quatre's favorite thing, but, none the less, he would have to venture out in it today. " Stupid snow. Stupid holidays. Stupid shopping. Stupid...stupid, stupid..."

There were some words that came to Quatre's mind just then, on impulse.

Bah humbug.

"Stupid Quatre..." Quatre stalked through the hall of his huge, warm apartment towards his front door, where he grabbed his big, black coat off of the rack, swooped it over his shoulders and put his arms through. He opened the door and stepped out into the hallway. Seven minutes later, Quatre stomped back through his front door, grabbed his scarf and stomped back out again. After taking the elevator down to the first floor, grumping through the cheerily decorated lobby and shoving open one of the glass doors out of the main enterance, all for the second time, Quatre asked the valet to fetch his car.

As he waited impatiently to watch his car pull up in front of him, Quatre felt something. There was a coldness that surged through him, past the numbness of his toes and fingers. It pierced his chest like an icicle. Quatre rubbed the area slightly and looked down at the curb. He felt a lump start to form in his throat.

'What's wrong with me...?' Quatre thought and then kicked some snow under his shoes, 'I have no reason to feel this way.'

Quatre looked back up, ignoring his feeling, and watched the people who were enjoying the weather a lot more than him as they walked. Parents. Kids. Young People. Friends. Couples.

"Okay, that doesn't help..." Quatre said out loud and grabbed at his chest again.

He watched as his car appeared around the corner.

'I wonder what Akira is doing...'

She didn't know why, but this dress had to be the best, sexiest dress she had ever worn.

' There has to be a reason,' Akira thought as she fumbled to zip up a slender green dress, '...maybe I shouldn't get a dress that matches my eyes...or...is that a good thing...?...'

"Uhh, do you need help in there?" A voice asked from outside.

"...yes..." Akira sighed and unlocked the changing stall to let her sister in.

Her sister smiled gently, not a common thing for her, when she noticed that her younger sister couldn't quite find the zipper with her hand.

"What happened to you being the flexible one?" Umeko asked as she quickly zipped up the dress.

" Your body isn't quite as cooperative when you give up cheerleading and yoga for engineering and massive amounts of stress," Akira grumbled out as her and Umeko made their way out of the stall to go look in the mirrors, "hm...really should keep up that yoga..."

" Might be a good idea for those 'massive amounts of stress' you just mentioned," Umeko stopped her sister and turned her around to face the mirrors, "There, now look how pretty you are."

Akira eyed herself in the mirror critically. She turned slightly to both sides, then let her hand rest on her abdomen. She sucked in and, after a while, let out a long breath. She looked over at her sister, who was disgustingly thin without trying her whole life. Akira sighed. That's when Quatre came back into her thoughts...

"God Akira, I'm so jealous of you..." Umeko sighed as she was looking at her sister.

Akira looked over at Umeko, extreme confusion evident, "what?"

" You have such a gorgeous body," Umeko grumbled, her arms crossed, " you're so fit..."

" What are you talking about?" Akira laughed out loud, " You're so much skinnier than I am"

"I have no figure," Umeko stated, bluntly, " You, on the other hand...jeez, I don't know where you get it from..."

"...uh..." Akira was stunned that her sister, her ultra-thin sister could ever possibly want to look like her, "Um...thank you...?"

" Sheesh!" Umeko turned to go look at more clothes, "pisses me off..."

Akira watched her leave, still stunned. Then, she turned back to the mirrors to take a closer look at herself. Trowa suddenly came to mind...

'...Nope! Don't think about him! Don't think about the other night!'

' Don't think about her! Don't think about the other night!' Quatre mentally yelled at himself for the umpteen millionth time since he got in his car earlier, 'I'm too busy to be so easily distra-...'

His thoughts were distracted by a sight he happened to catch as he walked through the mall. As he was passing a clothing store, he happened to look through one of the huge glass windows and towards the mirrors outside of the dressing stalls. His first impression was of shiny black curls against a smooth looking back, accented beautifully by a green dress that hugged all the curves of this female's body delicately. He watched her as she lifted her hands to her hair to pull it up and run her fingers through it. As she turned sideways to look in the mirror at another angle, he caught sight of the side of her soft face. The curve of her face all the way down to her collarbone was something to be admired in itself. The way her hair fell...wait...

Umeko walked back to Akira carrying a pair of shoes. Akira's attention was snapped out of whatever pleasant thoughts that made her move so slowly and gracefully. Quatre watched as this girl turned quickly to whom he knew to be Umeko. She wasn't moving like she had that made her look like a porcelain doll, but now she moved in an animated fashion, her smile glowing.

' W-...wait a minute...that's Umeko and...' Quatre blinked until he fully registered his realization and confusion, at which point he hurriedly walked away, his head down, 'but how...wait, not how...I didn't recognize her without her glasses on...she must be wearing contacts or something...she looked so different...well, duh...but, how...did she get my attention like that, this place is so crowded. How can I see her so differently just by not knowing that it was her?'

" Woah! Careful there!" Quatre felt two hands on his shoulders, grabbing him back to reality. He looked up from the ground.

' Of all the people I could have run into...' "Of all the people you could have run into, imagine this," Duo said with a smile. Quatre looked to Duo's side and saw Duo's small, yet very pregnant girlfriend, Haruki, who also looked at him with a smile. Quatre noticed how pale her face was and started to worry.

"What are you guys doing here?" Quatre asked, looking between the two.

"Last minute shopping," Haruki answered.

" Haruki insisted on coming, " Duo griped.

" C'mon, how would you like to be stuck in the house all the time?" Haruki rolled her eyes, "Besides, I'll be fine with frequent stops, we have all day."

Duo scratched his head and looked down at the smiling Haruki, and then shrugged.

"Like I could ever stop you..." Duo turned his attention back to Quatre, "So, Quatre, what are you doing here? Finding the perfect gift for Akira?"

"Uhm..." Quatre thought for a second, " Just doing some Christmas shopping...well, all of it really, kinda last minute..."

"That's not like you," Haruki said, surprised.

" Nothing he's done has been like him lately, Haruki," Duo explained, "I'm starting to think this isn't the actual Quatre, somebody killed him and took his place"

"That's ridiculous," Quatre said

"Are you feeling okay lately, Quatre?" Haruki asked, her concern evident, " Are...things going okay?"

" Things?" Quatre asked, though he knew full well what things.

" See? He acts like he isn't even involved with anyone," Duo said, "It must have something to do with Kira"

" Is something wrong?" Haruki asked again, still concerned. Quatre looked down at the small, fragile woman.

" No," he lied, "Now excuse me, I need to get my shopping done"

Duo reluctantly moved out of the way to let his friend pass and watched him as he started to walk away.

"You know, Akira deserves a lot more respect and love than you've even considered providing for her," Duo said to Quatre's back, " I hope she gets the courage to dump you, for the good of both of you. So she gets the chance to be treated like an amazing person and so you get some sense knocked into your self-absorbed mind".

Quatre stopped, but didn't turn around or say anything, he just thought.

"Duo!" Haruki grabbed his arm and gave him a stern look, then looked back at Quatre, "Er...we'll see you later, Quatre..."

They walked away as Quatre slowly started walking again, his head still standing where he was when Duo had said those things to him.

' I wish she had dumped me'

"Yeah, yeah, I promise I'll be there first thing in the morning to help,"Akira said into the phone as she looked at herself in the mirror dressed in the ensemble for Quatre's party, "Okay...bye"

Akira hung up the phone and sighed. Why did her sister have to call her when they had just seen each other earlier that day. Maybe the same reason she felt she had to try on her dress again. No she did that because she had to think and somehow, the dress seemed to help. Just then, a firm knock sounded at the door.

"Great, what now?" Akira asked nobody as she made her way from her bedroom to the front room and towards the door, "...better not be someone wanting to borrow something again..."

She unlocked all the bolts and then opened the door.

"..." Akira gaped in surprise, "...Trowa?"

"That would be me," Trowa smiled, but his smile faded as he got a look at Akira, " Wow..."

" Wha-...oh yeah," Akira jumped back as she realized she was still in the dress and heels, "I was trying on the dress I'm going to wear on friday"

"ah... well, you look gorgeous" Trowa stepped inside and closed the door behind him as Akira retreated further into her apartment, a light blush settling over her face "wait, you're going to Quatre's party?"

"Yes," Akira said plainly, "All my friends are going to be there"

"Are you sure that's a good idea?"

" Well, I figure I have every right to. If I were the one to do what Quatre did, I wouldn't go, but..." Akira trailed off and thought, then just shrugged, "Anyways, why are you here?"

" Well..." Trowa sighed and looked oddly down at the couch, "may I have a seat?"

"Sure," Akira said and Trowa took a seat, Akira sat down next to him.

" I think we need to talk," Trowa explained, Akira sighed and nodded, " I got to thinking after I dropped you off here yesterday that by not even attempting to talk through what happened, I was doing the same thing Quatre had done. I really don't want to do that to you, especially right now..."

"...what is there to talk about?" Akira asked, looking down at her lap, "we got a little drunk and out of control..."

"I don't think that's what we need to talk about," Trowa looked over at Akira and then away again, " I mean, we need to talk about yesterday morning."

'Oh,...well...um..."Akira brought a hand through her hair, as she reached the end of her hair, it bounced back down to her collarbone, "hmm, maybe we were still drunk...?"

"..." Trowa smiled at Akira, "that could be it"

Akira looked off in thought and then did the same thing with her hair again. Trowa watched as it fell back down on to her collar bone, this time slightly in front of her face. On impulse, he reached over and brushed it out of her face. She looked up at him in shock and panic raced through his body. But something was soothing his demeanor in this situation. He smiled softly down at her.

" Is there anything you want to talk about?" Trowa asked quietly.

"Well," Akira turned her head slightly away from his touch, " I think I've already talked through all of my problems with you"

"I'm only too glad to listen," Trowa said, "It's my privilege to make such a friendly acquaintance with you. You're a really amazing person, Kira..."

Akira looked back at him, he didn't look like he was joking. But, the way he was looking at her, the way he was sitting, the way she had felt so cold for the last month or so when things had turned bad with her and Quatre, how cold and lonely...and here, sitting next to her was a protective warmth. Akira reached forward and wrapped her arms around Trowa and buried her face in his shirt as she started crying.

"..." Trowa was again shocked, this time not by himself, but Akira. Trowa slowly returned the embrace and then let his hand go up to her head and started stroking her hair. He felt suddenly...protective " You really are...amazing, Akira..."

"Pleeeeeaaaaaase let me help..." Hilde begged, leaning on the counter next to Wufei.

"Hmm," Wufei stopped slicing the thin dough into rectangles for a moment, "let me think about it again..."

Hilde looked at him expectantly.

" No," he said simply and continued to cut the pasta for the raviolli.

"Awwwww..." Hilde whined and squirmed, making Wufei smile.

"Now, go sit down and wait patiently like a good girl," Wufei said, pointing to the small table in his kitchen. Hilde sighed and took a seat at the table, poking at some papers Wufei had left there.

" How did you get such a nice apartment anyways?" Hilde asked, placing her head on her arms and looking over at Wufei, "And how did Duo end up with such a crappy one?"

" That's pretty simple," Wufei said as he worked, "I've been there the longest, I'm paid the most, that and I'm only providing for myself"

"Soon, Duo will have another person to take care of," Hilde sighed.

"You really worry about those guys, huh?" Wufei asked, looking over momentarily.

"Well...yeah..."

"Hmm," Wufei continued cooking for a long while before saying anything else, "alright then. I guess I could pull some strings, maybe as a Christmas present..."

"..." Hilde stared at Wufei skeptically, " you'd really do that for them?"

" Yeah," Wufei nodded, " They are friends, I suppose...and it seems to be important to you"

"Oh?" Hilde stood up to stand next to Wufei again, " And why does it being important to me matter?"

Wufei looked over at Hilde and the teasing look she had on her face. She always acted so sure, like she always had the upper hand. Well, he'd certainly show her.

"Because you're important to me," Wufei said plainly, still cooking.

"Uh..." Hilde looked at him silently for a long while. Wufei looked over at her and smiled.

"Dinner's done," Wufei said to her, brushing a hair away from her confused face.

She looked at him strangely as he got plates for the two of them, then looked over at the food on the oven, "What is it?"

"Three cheese raviolli with my very own pesto sauce," he motioned to two of the pots on the stove, then moved on to the others, " steamed vegetables, rosemary bread with oil and vinegar if you'd like, and for dessert, chocolate raspberry cheesecake"

"...my favorite," Hilde looked at Wufei oddly, like he was going to kill her soon and hide her in the walls of his apartment.

"I know," Wufei flashed her another smile, which, against her will, she was starting to find quite charming, "have a seat"

Hilde slowly nodded and moved back to the table to sit as Wufei put the food on the plates. She watched him as he made his way over towards her and her heart started beating faster. She raised her hand to her chest before she saw him pick up all the papers from the small table and take them into the other room. When he walked back in, she watched him carefully go back to the cooking area. Her attention was drawn from what he was doing as she started to study him, really for the first time that night. His hair was pulled back loosely, it seemed to match his unusually chipper mood. She noticed that he had rolled up the sleeves of his button up shirt when he cooked, it revealed his beautifully toned arms. Looking at how his shirt settled on his body, she could tell that went for his abs too. And chest. And shoulders...well, there was really only one way to find out for sure...

' Wha-...wait, no' Hilde made herself peel her eyes off of Wufei, ' I can't be thinking like that, not about Wufei...he's my friend...suddenly extremely attractive friend...but still my-'

Hilde's thoughts were interupted when a plate was set down before her, startling her slightly. It looked...good, really good. Hilde sniffed, it smelt good, really good. She was startled again as a wine glass was set down above the plate. She looked at it and its contents, then up at Wufei. Wufei looked down at Hilde and the confused look on her face. Oh yeah, he had shown her. And boy, oh boy, what a feeling it brought. As he looked down at Hilde as she looked up at him, however, a different feeling started to cover up the gloating he was doing in his head. Something in the way her eyes looked when she was confused, or how soft her face and hair appeared in the lighting. She made his heart skip a beat, he felt like sighing. Quickly he moved to his side of the table and sat down, looking at his plate and glass. When he looked back up, Hilde was still staring at him.

"Um...are you hungry?" Wufei asked, motioning to the food.

"Oh!" Hilde snapped out of her thought and grabbed up a fork, "y-yeah, sorry, just sorta...spaced out..."

"Heh, well, enjoy the food," Wufei said, picking up his own fork, " it's made from all fresh ingredients, hand chosen and prepared by yours truly"

"Hm..." Hilde took a bite of the food,"...wow..."

"Good?"

"Yes...delicious," Hilde smiled up at him, " You're amazing, Wufei"

"I know," Wufei said, and then started eating his own food.

"..." Hilde looked up at Wufei every now and then as they ate in silence, until she set her fork down on the plate and sat up straight, "alright, what is all this?"

" What do you mean?" Wufei asked, that same smile back on his face, "I thought you might enjoy something not previously frozen"

"...err..." Hilde grabbed her glass and took a long sip of the wine, "...tastes expensive...anyways, what's up? You're acting really strange..."

"Hmm..." Wufei rested his elbows on the table and leaned forward, staring at Hilde.

"Um..." Hilde fidgeted in her seat, " this is...where you're supposed to answer..."

"Let me answer with a question then," Wufei rested his chin on his thumb and smirked.

"That's not fai-"

"Do you love me?"

"Wha-..." Hilde could feel herself jerk, "wait, wait...what?"

"Do you love me?" Wufei asked and suddenly his face turned very serious.

"Well, uh..." Hilde rested her head against one hand, looking away from Wufei and ran a finger around the bottom of her wine glass, " You're a really great friend and..."

" You know what I mean," Wufei sighed and ran his hand through his hair.

Hilde couldn't believe what she was hearing, or seeing for that matter. He looked so good before with his smile and confidence. But now he looked...well, cute. Did he bring her here and cook for her as a date? If so, he did a wonderful job. This was the most romantic thing anyone had ever done for her. Or maybe he was just teasing her. Either way, she could feel herself falling for him. She knew that, before too long, she might be putty in his hands. In his hands...what she wouldn't give to have those strong arms around her right now. But, Hilde knew how things would have to go. This would have to go slow if it was going to happen. But first, she had to really find out if anything would happen at all.

" Hmm," Hilde grabbed the wine glass and took another sip, "You know, this is the sort of thing women wish their boyfriends would do for them. You have quite the insight when it comes to women, I'm surprised. Impressed, really"

"Well, it was one of the disciplines I was trained in," Wufei smiled as Hilde raised a brow, "I'm just joking...really, most men should be able to understand how to please a woman without pleasing themselves, they just have to think of the woman and what she wants, rather than think of what she can give them. Men are capable of it, they just have to care about the woman as much or more than they care about themselves...Besides, I find that in every aspect of life, giving more always gets you more"

"Oh?" Hilde felt her heart flutter, but gave a smartass smile, "And what exactly are you expecting me to give back"

"Nothing," Wufei said and sighed, "I expect nothing from you, but you've already given back by just showing up and letting me see your face"

"Wufei," Hilde chuckled nervously, "If I didn't know better, I'd say you have a crush on me"

"Heh," Wufei got up and walked over to Hilde and leaned down, putting one hand on the table and the other on her chair, " You don't know better..."

"..." Hilde tried to think through what he had just said, until it dawned on her, "Oh!...Wait, I-..."

Hilde was cut off when Wufei leaned forward and his lips came in contact with hers, very softly. She was taken back at first, but soon settled for closing her eyes and accepting his kiss. He pulled back and looked down at Hilde as her eyes slowly opened again. Her breathing was strained, she had obviously been surprised.

"I'm sorry," Wufei whispered to Hilde, still only an inch from her face. His warm breath tickled her lips and she could feel her heart flutter again. She lifted her face up and met his lips to barely touch her own. He was obviously pleased by her decision, because he leaned forward to deepen the kiss and placed his hand at the back of her neck, running his fingers through her soft hair. Slowly she brought her hands up to his shoulders.

Yup, just like she thought, beautifully toned shoulders.

'Wait,' Hilde thought slowly, 'what am I doing?'

Hilde brought her hands down to Wufei's chest, noting the firmness there as well before gently pushing him away. She looked up at his eyes. For the first time that night, he looked a little confused.

"Um...Uh..." Hilde pulled her eyes away from his, "I-I'm sorry...I should go...this was...well, perfect, wonderful, but I..."

Wufei watched as she stood up and went around the table on the opposite side that he was on.

"I'm sorry if I was out of line there," Wufei said, following her out of the kitchen and to his front room.

"No, no, you didn't do anything," Hilde grabbed her purse and coat and turned around quickly, " I just...have a lot of thinking to do..."

"...okay," Wufei said as he confusedly watched Hilde hurry out the door. He sighed as it clicked closed. He stood there and stared at the closed door, thinking. He was surprised when the door opened again quickly and the short dark haired girl hurried back in, her purse and coat still hung over one arm.

Wufei watched as she walked right up to him and looked him in the eye. She reached up with her free hand and wrapped it around Wufei's neck, pulling him down to her and meeting his lips with a full-on kiss. Wufei finally got over his surprise and wrapped his arms around the small of her back, when she pulled away and smiled slightly.

"I win," she whispered and then disapeared again behind that door.

Wufei blinked, then smirked and just shook his head.

A/N- Wowies, it's been so long since I wrote anything, sorry about that. I decided I had some time this summer and I had the itch to write fanfictions again. I'm working on something else too...I should probably finish MOR and...gee, what else haven't I finished...oh yeah, BOU.  
Seems strange to be writing a winter story in July, but hey, I can pretend it's not 120 degrees outside.  
Hm, I'm having fun with this story, but I think I'm being too mean to Quatre, things will have to turn around for him...so, what do you think the climax of the story will be like? There are three different stories going on at once, almost four, but not really...so no, not almost four...anyways, Hilde and Wufei are turning out pretty interesting(who would've thought Wufei could be so romantic...sigh what girl can resist a guy who can cook like that?), Duo and Haruki are still kinda poor, but happy, and then there are Umeko, Akira, Trowa, and Quatre...what a fricken mess...what the hell is gonna happen there?

We'll see. Till next time, it shouldn't take over a year this time . 


	5. Part Five!

Title: Happy Holidays

Author: Supurrkitty

Archive: pg-13

Warnings: OCs, sexual situations, cussing...(tell me if it should be 'R')

PAIRINGS: 4+OC, 2+OC, some recalling of a 3xOC(not anymore), and hints of 5+H, but it all kind of changed in the last chapter, so I guess you could say: 2+OC(Haruki), no more 4+OC(Akira), still recalling of 3+OC(Umeko), still 5+H, and now the fun one, 3+OC(Akira!)but will it last?

Part Five!

Okay, this had to be the coldest night ever. At least, that's what Duo figured as he brought another quilt from the linen drawer in his small apartment. His toes were completely numb even as he shuffled his stockinged feet across the dark floor in his pajamas making his way towards his bed again. He spread the quilt over the top of another quilt which was undoubtedly on top of another which was covering a lump that had seemingly all hair coming out the top of the quilts. Duo sighed when he looked down at her. She turned to look up at him and gave him a small smile. Duo did his best to smile back before scooting under the covers next to Haruki. He was starting to feel pretty pathetic, not being able to keep the mother of his unborn child warm. He tried to fix the heater...but it became pretty clear that it would be best to find a new one. If it were just him all alone, he wouldn't care, but...

"It's too fucking cold..." Haruki griped, something she didn't usually do, though Duo noticed that she had been doing a lot of stuff she didn't usually do lately. Duo couldn't help but chuckle and he could have sworn he saw her smirk, though the dark could have been playing tricks on him.

"I'll see what I can do," Duo pressed himself closer to Haruki, wrapping his arms around her to pull her closer, he rubbed her shoulder and arm to try and warm her up, "any better?"

"We'll see," Haruki sighed, obviously tired.

Duo just smiled and kissed the top of her head. One day he would give this bitchy little beauty everything...

Hilde hugged her pillow to herself and sighed once again. She could have sworn her face must have been red, because it still felt hot. She rolled over onto her back and stared at the ceiling.

'Why does this have to be so complicated,' Hilde thought to herself, 'if something else happens next...think of the risk...he's my most treasured friend...which is highly unusual now that I think about it...I can't believe what happened tonight, it was almost like a fairy tale...I feel so tingly...'

Hilde let herself smile widely and even let out a small giggle. This was the sort of thing she had hoped for from a guy but never got. And now, she was getting it from someone she least expected. It was all too much...

Maybe she'd give it more of a chance...

'But on my terms...' Hilde thought as she rolled over onto her side again and shut her eyes, 'and at a fairly decent hour...'

Wufei finally collapsed onto his bed, not even bothering to change clothes after avoiding sleep for so long by cleaning things up. The step he had tried to take with that dinner was starting to seem bolder than he had thought, and now he was agonizing over what would happen.

'I'll take her to Quatre's party tomorrow...' Wufei thought before realizing he was thinking it '...well, yeah! of course...'

Wufei reached up and pulled the holder out of his hair and tossed it away from him. He scratched his head as he thought of his night with Hilde. He smiled thinking of the looks he had seen on her face. Then he thought of that first kiss and then the final. He thumped his hand to his head and groaned. Oh boy, he was in pretty deep.

Quatre sat at his desk, trying to convince himself he was getting stuff done and being productive by staying up so late, but actually just stabbing at papers with his pen. He kept going from being sad to being angry, and then back to sad again...

" Are the stars out tonight..." Quatre almost sang in a mumble, "I can't tell if it's cloudy or bright...cause I only have eyes for...glue..."

For some reason, Quatre decided to stare around for some glue but was unsuccessful.

" I really am getting to be a mess..." Quatre sighed, " I should probably get my act together, shape up..."

And he spent the rest of his night hunched over his desk, sometimes asleep, sometimes cursing about falling asleep.

Trowa stared out the window next to the bed at the snow falling steadily outside. He was very glad he wasn't out there, it seemed a lot less comfortable than where he was now. His mind went back to how he got there. It started seeming less complicated the more he thought about it, or the later it got, whichever.

'Why shouldn't I be here?' he asked himself, ' Why shouldn't I belong here?'

He felt he belonged here, it filled his heart. He looked down at his chest again, studying the weight that occupied it. Akira was asleep, her head resting over his heart. Again she was under a blanket with him, this time fully clothed. He couldn't leave her tonight, and it was obvious that she didn't want him to leave. She was exhausted after crying so much, but refused to go to sleep. She stayed close to him, he wasn't sure why. Even when she was changing into her pajamas, she had made sure he was just outside of her bedroom door, waiting. When he had talked about leaving, he looked over at her and knew he couldn't, even if he wanted to. He didn't think he wanted to either, though. So they just sat on her bed and talked for a long while, even joking about things after a while. Akira was obviously well past the exhaustion point as they both watched the window as the snow started to come down. He couldn't forget how hard his heart pounded when she rested her head on his shoulder. He did his best to keep it from exploding when she allowed him to hold her and stroke her hair. It was very soon afterwards that she had fallen asleep, clinging to him. He was very careful to not wake her up as he moved to a lying position, that was when she had adjusted in her sleep to the position she was in now.

He let out a sigh of contentment as he stroked her hair away from her face. This was bad...in a very good way. He could use a lot more of this bad. It didn't matter right now what it was exactly that he was feeling, or how bad this might turn out. It just mattered that he had to make this last for as long as he could. Unfortunately, you can only fight sleep for so long when you're in a state of contented exhaustion.

Duo stroked Haruki's hand with his thumb as he held onto it. They were seated at one of many tables in this huge reception room thingy. It was a very pretty scene, the lighting gave a very warm feeling that matched the actual toasty temperature of the building. There were plenty of people there, all of Quatre's friends of course, but there were also all of his sisters and all of his sisters' friends and of course boyfriends.

"Hey guys," Wufei had walked over to their table, "um...how are you?"

"Hi Wufei," Duo smiled at his friend, " I'm fine, Haruki is feeling a little bad, though. She won't let me take her home, either.

"I'll be fine," Haruki almost snapped. Wufei smiled at the two.

"So, is it just me, or is this party just all around awkward?" Wufei asked as he took a seat across from them.

" It's not just you," Haruki said, stealing another glance around the place, " It seems like everybody has something going on and it all has to do with bad relations with almost everyone else".

"Hm...kinda like a High School dance...except the drinks are openly alcoholic..." Duo commented.

" Well put," Wufei laughed, " Though, it's nice to know that no matter how much others seem to avoid each other, they can almost always talk to you guys"

" I don't know about that, with all the mood swings I've been having lately," Haruki smiled.

" Yeah," Duo agreed, but then saw the look on Haruki's face," So...er...where's Hilde?"

"...uh...wha-err...Hilde?"

"Yeah, you guys seem to be pretty good friends lately," Duo smiled, "I wouldn't be too surprised if something else might happen soon..."

" Oh, well, um, I did invite her along, but..." Wufei shrugged, " I guess she had other plans or something...Oh, there's Quatre, it's his party, but I haven't seen him at all tonight".

Indeed, Quatre had been lying low the whole party, but now there seemed to be enough guests to try and blend in. He was feeling a little more upbeat than the last week, despite the crick in his neck from sleeping at his desk again, having found a temporary solution for the cold emptiness. How could he have forgotten until now? Alcohol.

He took another drink and looked around the party, very happy that nobody had come up to him. Suddenly his sight went blank. Damn, did he really drink that much?

"Guess who?" A smooth feminine voice rang in his ear. How annoying.

"Ow. Ew, you bit me..." the picture of the party came back in view and Quatre took another drink to rinse out the taste of hand. Suddenly, a tall woman wearing a yellow strapless dress with a lacy skirt walked from behind him and took a seat right next to him, shifting to face him.

"Oh, Umeko," Quatre blinked, hopefully she wasn't here on sisterly duties to give him a hard time, " haven't seen you in a while".

"Yup, you sure haven't," Umeko smiled, " not since you met my sister".

"umm...did she...?"

" Oh yeah, she told me what happened," Umeko kept smiling, " but don't worry, I'm not here to hassle you".

" You aren't?" Quatre asked, confused.

"Nuh-uh, nope," Umeko shook her head, "actually, I chose to spend this time with you, how nice for you, huh?"

"Uh, yeah, I guess..." Quatre was really confused now.

"Hmm...you seem pretty drunk..."

" Is it that obvious already?"

" I'm experienced at detecting these things, among others".

" Is that so?"

" Yup, and I detect that I know something that you don't"

" Probably more than one thing when you really think about it..."

" One big thing...and if you're real nice to me, I might be willing to tell you before I tell Duo"

" But you always tell Duo everything first...that way we all know about it the next day.."

"Yes, but I'm willing to tell you first..."

" Oh? hmm, how odd...what's the occasion?"

" Well, it is Christmas Eve..." Umeko looked over at the big tree in the middle of the room, then back at Quatre, " and you seem to be pretty damn lonely"

" Funny, I'm in a bit of a better mood now than I have been," Quatre shrugged before taking another drink.

" That's really very sad, Quatre," Umeko said before grabbing his drink out of his hand, taking a drink and then handing it back, " You need some cheering up"

" Oh, do you think?" Quatre asked.

" Yup, I need some cheering up as well".

" You never really struck me as the type that gets lonely".

" Heh," Umeko leaned a little closer to Quatre, " Hon', even the coldest bitch gets lonely on Christmas Eve when they have nothing..."

" Well yeah, but you aren't so cold, you're cheery and bright and all that nice stuff..."

" Well yeah, those people get lonely too...really lonely..."

"sounds...uh...lonely..."

" alright then...maybe we can help each other and I can tell you my secret, but not here".

" Sounds good to me," Quatre nodded and got up, " There's an office over there that I use sometimes, you can pretend to be taking me somewhere to bitch out for dumping your sister"

" WHAT? You dumped my sister?"

" wha-...um...uh...err...well...uh..." Quatre blinked, panicking.

" Naw, I'm just joshing ya, Quatre, I know," Umeko laughed, then led the way to the office closely followed by a sighing Quatre, shaking his head.

On the other side of the room, Akira sat at a table, feeling uncomfortable. She was dressed in the same green dress, she had her hair done up in dark curls, and she was wearing a beautiful yellow diamond that her father had given her when she graduated from high school. She was beginning to wonder why she had even come here and she started feeling lonely.

'Maybe I should go find Haruki or Umeko or...' her thoughts drifted back to Trowa and she sighed on impulse.

" What's the sigh for? It doesn't quite match your outfit..."

Akira looked up, she must have called him in her thoughts, because right here stood Trowa. She watched him take a seat next to her with a smile on his face, she couldn't help but smile back, though panic was racing through her.

"H-hi Trowa," Akira looked at her hand on the table, " it's nothing, just kinda tired I guess..."

" Already?" Trowa asked, " It's still pretty early"

" Well," Akira shrugged, " my brain's worn out...I've been thinking a lot..."

It was true, she had been thinking a lot since she woke up in Trowa's arms and realized she didn't have the excuse of alcohol this time. The most troubling part, she didn't want to leave. And when she realized he had woken up and didn't attempt to push her off of him or anything, that was even worse.

"Hmm," Trowa stared at her for a second, then grabbed her hand up in his, making Akira's heart jump, " c'mon, let's go find some of the others, they might wake you up a bit".

" Alright," Akira said and allowed herself to be led away.

Meanwhile, behind a locked office door...

"Hmm...do you always try to cheer people up like that?" Quatre asked after the end of a major makeout session.

"My specialty for nice boys like you..." Umeko said, then took her mirror out, " Oh darn, I smudged my lipstick..."

" Well, I'm not exactly complaining..." Quatre said, straightening his tie, " But I'm not sure if I really deserved that..."

" That was just me using you for my loneliness like I know you want to use me for yours," Umeko said, adjusting her boobs in her dress in a very unladylike way, " Go ahead and give it a shot if you'd like".

"...You're a lot different than Akira," Quatre studied her.

" What was your first clue?" Umeko said sarcastically, then took a look around the office from the couch she was sitting on, "how...clean...reminds me of you..."

"Naw, you should see my office at home, nothing like this," Quatre looked around and then sighed, " especially lately...but I like it in a way, I guess..."

" Hm, " Umeko nodded, " I guess sometimes you just need change...and then sometimes you just have to put up with change...it helps the loneliness some..."

" Can I kiss you?"

" You don't need to ask"

"I'll remember that next time"

Quatre leaned over to where Umeko sat and brought his hands up to her face, pulling her into a hard, intent kiss. Umeko wrapped her arms around him and allowed herself to lean back with Quatre. They broke apart long enough to feel each other's shallow breathing tickle their lips, before Quatre closed the gap again with a deep, frantic kiss. This wasn't so bad, he thought as he positioned himself over Umeko, his hands on both sides of her head, he was enjoying the party a lot more than he thought he would. He let his kisses start to trail away from her lips as he felt Umeko's hands go to his chest and loosen his tie.

"Oh yeah, I forgot..." Umeko stopped for a second as Quatre kissed her neck, "...my secret..."

Quatre continued indulging himself in the feel of her flesh against his lips, not really listening to what she was saying.

" I went to Kira's this morning...ah..." Umeko closed her eyes and sighed as Quatre kissed a particularly sensitive spot at the nape of her neck, " Trowa was there..."

For a moment Quatre simply continued on, letting his hands wander. But soon it registered and he immediately sat up straight, his eyes focusing on the bookcase before looking back down at the flustered looking Umeko.

" What did you just say?" Quatre asked, almost demanding.

" Trowa was at Kira's apartment this morning," Umeko sat up a little, " He stayed the night"

Quatre just stared back at the bookcase for a long while as Umeko watched him, waiting for what he would do next.

It was then that a very late comer walked into the party and looked around for something. Hilde wasn't planning on coming tonight, but she had done a lot of thinking today and found out that she didn't want to stay away from this party. She grabbed the best dress she could find in her closet, which turned out to be a slick black dress with an open back. However, she had forgotten to check her coat as she hurried to the party room.

Wufei was at one of the tables furthest from the entrance, sitting and talking with the others about work and other matters. He found for one of the few times in his life that friends actually did make him feel better. Not that he would ever tell them that.

"Hey, isn't that Hilde?" Trowa had spotted her first and Wufei quickly looked in the direction he was looking. Sure enough, there she was, looking confused in a black dress and big jacket. Before he had time to think about it, Wufei got up and swiftly made his way towards her. Hilde saw him and relief flooded her features as she hurried over to him. And then, without warning, Hilde wrapped her arms around Wufei in a hug.

The onlookers, Haruki, Duo, Trowa, and Akira, all grew silent as they watched this scene unfold, shocked. In fact, you could almost hear a gasp when they saw Wufei hug her back.

"What are you doing here?" Wufei asked into her hair.

"I couldn't stay away...I made up my mind..." Hilde mumbled.

" Made up your mind?" Wufei was confused, he didn't remember asking her anything other than if she'd come to the party.

" I thought all day about last night...and..." Hilde began, but then something caught her eye over Wufei's shoulder. Wufei turned to look where she was looking. Pretty soon it seemed everyone was looking on at the scene that was about to unravel. Quatre was storming across the room towards the table that all the others were seated at. While that was almost shocking in itself, what made the scene extremely shocking was the state he seemed to be in physically.

Quatre finally reached the table where everyone was now standing in surprise and he spotted his target. Spotting Trowa, whom was still a bit taller than him, he walked up to a threatening closeness and shoved at Trowa, taking him by surprise. Trowa steadied himself against the table and looked at the glaring Quatre.

" What did you do? Wait, don't tell me, I don't want to know, I'll just kick your ass," Quatre said like he really could.

" Quatre!" Akira came to right beside Trowa, " What do you think you're doing? What is wrong with you?"

" You," Quatre pointed his finger right at Akira, making her blink, then pointed at Trowa, " and him...You were with him last night!"

" Um, guys..."

" He's my friend, Quatre," Akira said, " Besides, what business is it of yours who I spend my time with?"

" Oh, I know exactly what kind of time you've been spending with him!" Quatre hollered.

" Don't yell at her," Trowa stepped in front of Akira, "wait...are you drunk?"

"guys..."

" And what if I am?" Quatre stood up a little straighter, " I'm not taking advantage of anyone, at least"

" Hey..." Akira came back from behind Trowa and stepped right up to Quatre, raising her hand towards his face. Quatre backed away quickly, thinking she was going to hit him and she just rolled her eyes and grabbed his face. She turned his head to both sides, examining it. Quatre saw her mouth "lipstick" and suddenly realized what he had been doing before he stormed out. He looked down at his clothes and jumped slightly. When did she unbutton his shirt? and where was his belt and tie? He did remember that his jacket was on the arm of the couch, however, and for that he congratulated himself.

" Umeko!" Akira shrieked, making Quatre jump again. How the hell did she know?

" Um...er, can I just..."

" Yeah?" Umeko walked up to the table, her appearance flawless, making Quatre jump yet again. How did she fix herself up so quickly?

" How do you explain this?" Akira asked, grabbing Quatre again and pointing to the lipstick smeared on his face. Umeko took a look, the calm never leaving her.

" Christmas present," Umeko said.

"Augh...I can't believe you guys..." Akira shook her head in frustration.

" Wait," Quatre suddenly popped out of his daze, " It's no different than what you two did!"

" That's completely different," Trowa said.

" Yes, we didn't do anything!" Akira defended.

" Oh, yeah right," Umeko butted in again, " Like you two would have that kind of willpower, the sexual pull between you is so obvious!"

" What?...I..." Akira began.

" Just face it, you aren't as perfect as you make people think," Umeko said, bitterly, " You were depressed from being dumped, so you went and slept with the first person you could".

" That's not true! That's not how it happened!" Akira shrieked, then covered her mouth, realizing what she just said.

" guys, would you please..."

" Oh, so you two did sleep together..." Quatre said, then it registered in his head and he glared back at Trowa, " How could you do that?"

" Quatre, stop it!" Akira yelled at Quatre.

" Oh c'mon, you know he has just as much right to react to what you did as you do," Umeko crossed her arms, " You did the same shallow, immoral thing that we were doing, all for pleasure...and after all of your high and mighty talk..."

" You're wrong!" Trowa yelled for the first time that night, " This was completely different!"

" Oh yeah?" Umeko got a smug look on her face, "and how is that?"

" Because I love Akira," Trowa said, soon after realizing it was true.

The area went completely silent from shock, all looking at Trowa and occasionally glancing at Akira. Umeko let her folded arms fall to her side. Akira looked up at Trowa, he glanced down at the confused look on her face, then looked away with a slight frown.

" Oh good, you all shut up," Everyone looked around to see the shortest of the group, Haruki, looking pale, " As entertaining and captivating as this soap opera of yours is, I just thought you'd all like to know, my water broke".

A/N-

Yay! Done! I think the next chapter will be the last one... This was pretty fun to write, I guess. Doing the scenes where they were all thinking in bed and stuff, well, except for Quatre, he was thinking on his desk, he keeps falling asleep at his desk, that has to be uncomfortable. Maybe it really is Karma...but then, I guess the worst thing he's done before the Umeko thing was feeling sorry for himself and being very grumpy. So maybe he's doing it to himself subconsciously. It's too bad I didn't put a punching scene in here or something. Quatre probably would have missed anyways, he's pretty drunk...well, he isn't slurring yet...Hey, I was nicer to Quatre this time, like I said I would be, I let him make out with someone.

Anyways, let's see if I can wrap things up next time. I need to wrap up about Duo, Haruki and the baby, and I need to come to a comfortable spot with Wufei and Hilde, and then, of course, Trowa, Akira, Umeko, and Quatre...somehow, I don't think a resolution would come easily...

Well, until we meet again! please review because I love you -


	6. Part Six!

Title: Happy Holidays

Author: Supurrkitty

Archive: pg-13

Warnings: OCs, sexual situations, cussing...(tell me if it should be 'R')

PAIRINGS!!!: 4+OC, 2+OC, some recalling of a 3xOC(not anymore), and hints of 5+H, but it all kind of changed in the last chapter, so I guess you could say: 2+OC(Haruki), no more 4+OC(Akira), still recalling of 3+OC(Umeko), still 5+H, and now the fun one, 3+OC(Akira!)but will it last???

Part Six!

Quatre watched himself turn a hankerchief over in his hands as he sat on the clean smelling couch. But, of course, everything had a clean smell to it, being located in a hospital and all. Quatre was afraid to look up at the people around him, though he was sure none of them would be staring at him. Still, Umeko was the only one who had dared take a seat next to him, not that that helped his situation any. Either his buzz was starting to wear off or he was feeling a more depressing effect of drunkeness.

He could feel guilt rise in his throat as he and his friends sat tensely in the waiting room. Yes, they were all his friends, despite the way things had been as of late. That was part of what made him feel guilty. He had treated all of his friends badly, though none of them deserved it. His bitter feelings didn't seem so important now that all of them were worried for Haruki and her early baby. And Akira...

Quatre glanced over at the young woman on his mind. She made sure she was seated alone on a chair away from the others. It seemed there was nobody she'd be comfortable around, not that he blamed her. He had been awful to her, she didn't deserve it, he suddenly realized. He couldn't help but realize also that he was kind of happy that Akira seemed just as uncomfortable around Trowa as she was around him. Trowa must be feeling rather awkward, too. After all, his proclamation was the highlight of the party.

Quatre silently wondered what must be going through Akira's mind and if what Trowa had said was true and if the sentiment was returned. Akira's mind must have been in a million places at once.

' I'm tired,' Akira thought to herself, then stared at the door that led to the hall that had the room that Haruki and Duo were in with the doctor, 'I hope they're doing well...God, I hope things'll be fine for them...'

Akira's gaze momentarilly drifted to Trowa, who was leaning against the wall, appearing to be in deep thought. Almost the exact moment she looked over at him, he reacted by looking back at her. For a few seconds their eyes remained locked, their faces expressionless, until Akira returned her gaze back to the far wall, resting her head on her hand. Things seemed just a little too complicated at the moment. Quatre seemed to hate her, possibly her sister as well...and Trowa, he said he loved her, it wasn't the friendly love she had expressed to him either. It was that deep connection of souls kind of love. But none of that seemed as important as her two friends and their child.

" I need some coffee..." Umeko grumbled and then stood up quickly, obviously very tense. She started to leave the room to find the coffee machine when she tripped on one of her heels. She cursed loudly before taking both of her shoes off, tossing them aside and exited the waiting room.

Trowa sighed when she left, making Quatre look over and suddenly Akira wanted to cry.

" Okay, okay," Wufei's voice startled the three to look at him, " This has gone on long enough, you guys are affecting other people now, not to mention it's annoying."

" Uh...Wufei?" Hilde looked at him, a little confused.

" These three have been acting so dramatic lately," Wufei looked down at Hilde before looking back up at the other three, " Just be honest with each other and think for once. Quatre, just cut that stinking attitude, you were only unhappy with her because you were unhappy with yourself; and despite you still having some feelings for Akira, you only have yourself to blame that she's gone now. You're going to have to accept that you pushed her away and now she's gone."

Quatre blinked at Wufei, speechless.

" Trowa," Wufei began again, " You get teased about it, but I know you loved Umeko in your own way. You still love her, but you love Akira too. That's okay, love doesn't just disapear, it'll stay with you. Have patience with both Umeko and Akira, they are sisters after all, and you're the center of a very awkward situation for them. Akira," Wufei took a pause to look at the pale girl, " I haven't known you very long, but don't kid yourself. You're very hurt by Quatre, but you're so obviously falling in love with Trowa. I wouldn't be surprised if that were one of the problems you and Quatre had."

There was a long silence that captured the room.

Wufei stood up from his seat on one of the couches with an obvious scowl on his face.

" Damnit, I'm becoming one of them," Wufei growled then looked down at Hilde, " Join me for some coffee to get away from this relationship blackhole?"

" Sure," Hilde smiled, accepting his offer and following him out of the room.

" He sure has changed..." Quatre finally said after another awkward silence.

" Yeah," Trowa chuckled.

There was another long, very awkward silence, and then...

" Sorry guys..." Quatre said quitely, " as shocking as that was, Wufei was right...I've been thinking of myself so much that I hurt you, Akira. Though, to tell you the truth, I'd really like to hurt Trowa. That could just be selfish too, but...well, let's just say I was stupid..."

Akira stroked her hair and breathed quietly while Trowa shifted his weight from one leg to the other.

" Huh? Where did everybody go?" Duo said as he walked in the room, making everybody jump.

" Oh, um..." Akira took a step forward, " Coffee...are they...are they okay? you okay?"

" Heh," Duo smiled weakly and nodded, " Haruki's sleeping now...the baby's a girl...premature, but the doctors think she's otherwise healthy, she just has to stay here a few days for testing..."

" Wow..." Akira sighed.

" Congratulations, Duo," Trowa said, walking up beside Akira.

" Yeah, congratulations," Quatre said, walking up on the other side of Akira.

"...thanks guys." Duo said after momentarilly contemplating the scene before him. " You know, it's almost three in the morning, you guys didn't have to stay so long."

" Oh, I didn't realize it was so late, " Akira said in surprise, " but really, I'm sure we all wanted to stay."

" Thanks," Duo smiled at the three, " it means a lot to Haruki and me. Now, who wants to go with me to see her?"

" Oh!" Akira gasped excitedly, a smile spreading on her face, making Quatre and Trowa look at her strangely. " Yes, let's go, I can't wait to see her!"

" Alright," Duo smiled back, then looked at the other two, " You guys coming?"

The two nodded as they all made their way towards the nursery.

" Wait, wait for me!" Umeko demanded as she hurried up to beside Duo, " So?"

" A girl," Duo beamed, " it's a girl."

" Aww," Umeko smiled her first genuine smile of the night and hugged Duo around the shoulder, " my best friend is a proud papa!...wait, that sounds so weird!"

" It feels weird," Duo chuckled nervously, then frowned, " I only hope I can fit the part..."

" Don't worry, I know you," Umeko said, then looked back at the three walking behind them, " besides, if you ever need help, you always have your friends."

Akira really felt like crying as she looked at all the people around her. They really were her friends, she realized as they reached the nursery.

" There she is," Duo smiled and pointed through the large nursery window.

At seeing the child, Umeko covered her mouth. Akira smiled in a sad way at seeing the defenseless being. She looked so tiny and frail as she wriggled at the end of the tubes that were hooked up to various machines. There was something sad about the innocence and the uncertainty. Akira wiped some gathering tears out of her eyes.

" Hey," Umeko whispered, "it's Christmas eve..."

" Was Wufei right?" Akira asked Trowa ever so quietly while he was giving her a ride back to her apartment. She knew the ride would be an awkward one, but she needed to take care of this sooner or later, so why not sooner.

Trowa glanced over at her, a thoughtful look on his face.

" Which part are you reffering to?" he asked.

" Uh, well...um..." Akira looked out her window, " About Umeko. I mean, I know what happened a few years ago, I've heard it around work even...it's just...I always thought..."

" That it was just about sex?" Trowa interupted, " I don't blame you, that's all most people knew about. There was a much bigger story behind what happened, though...Wufei was right, I did love Umeko, very much...he was also right that I still do, though I don't know if she ever felt that way about me..."

" Wow, you love my sister?" Akira asked, looking over at Trowa.

"..." Trowa looked over at her, trying to get an idea on how she felt, " Not the way I used to...your sister is...complicated..."

" Yeah," Akira sighed, " I'm glad you loved her, though. I think she knows, in a way..."

" I hope so," Trowa sighed as he pulled the car into a parking spot at the apartment building, " About tonight, what I said..."

" Oh," Akira went slightly pale and looked forward, " just to shut everyone up and all, right?"

" No," Trowa shook his head, " I love you."

" Well, yeah," Akira chuckled, " I love you too, you're my greatest friend."

" No, you know it's not like that," Trowa said, almost irritably as he got out of the car. Akira followed suit and they both started to walk to the building. She hugged her jacket tighter around because of the chill she could feel. Only, she couldn't decide what it was from, the winter air or the tension she could feel at that moment between Trowa and herself.

" I don't want to lose you Trowa," she finally said when they stopped in front of her door, " I don't want things to ever be weird with us, I value what I have with you too much."

" And what do you have with me?" Trowa turned to her, looking her straight in the eye.

" We're..." Akira looked up at Trowa, which caused her to pause, "...friends...we're just...do you actually think it would ever...? Are you sure this wasn't just some mistake?"

" Why shouldn't it happen?" Trowa asked, the slightest glimmer of hope in his voice, " I promise you will never lose me, I will always be here for you, just like I will always love Umeko. You have my word on that."

" ...but..." Akira couldn't think of anything to follow that but, " are you sure?"

For a few seconds, Trowa just stood there, looking at her. But then he took her up in his arms in a warm embrace. Akira let out a small gasp before melting into that welcoming warmth.

" I love you," he whispered into her hair, " I checked and double checked and I'm sure my heart is right where I left it."

"...God, Trowa..." Akira breathed, desperately clinging, afraid to lose his comfort, "...Wufei was right..."

Quatre tried hanging his jacket up when he came in his front door, but he missed and it fell to the floor. He made the decision to just leave it there and he drug his feet over to his sofa, where he plopped down, waiting for sleep. He really wanted to talk to Akira after today, but he knew that would somehow be selfish. She didn't want to be around him, so perhaps giving her space and not trying to talk with her would be giving her the freedom that she needed from him.

That's when his mind wandered back to Umeko. Though she was the one who proposed the idea of what they did, he somehow felt he had taken advantage of her. Maybe they had both taken advantage of each other's situation, maybe they were both somehow jealous.

No, that couldn't have been it. Umeko didn't feel those sort of things towards Trowa. But then again, it was so hard to tell. She only seemed to be herself when it came to friends, she was completely different with anything more. Around Duo and her sister she seemed normal, excluding the ugly incident earlier in the evening. Maybe she did love Trowa, or maybe it was just a posession thing. Maybe that confusion was why Wufei waited for her to leave the room to adress everyone else.

" And maybe I love Akira," Quatre thought out loud, looking at the ceiling, " or maybe it's just a posession thing."

The doorbell barely registered in his brain as he managed to pick his head up from the sofa cushion again. Who the hell could it be interupting his thoughts at this hour. The doorbell rang again and he grumpily got up to answer it. He looked through the peephole and blinked in surprise. It was Umeko, how odd, he thought as he unlatched the locks on his door. He opened the door and Umeko looked at him as if she were surprised by something.

" I'm sorry, did I wake you?" Umeko almost looked concerned for his well being.

" Not from sleep," he said and stepped aside, supposing he had to let her in. She gave him an understanding look and maneuvered around him into his front room.

" So, um..." Quatre closed the door, " why are you here?"

" Do I really bug you that much?" Umeko turned to face him, " That's pretty funny, considering you were pretty willing to hook up with me in the middle of your own party not so long ago."

" Yeah, about that," Quatre began.

" No need to apologize," Umeko interupted and Quatre blinked at her, " I know you're not over Akira, it was just earlier this week that you broke up. It's not like I wanted anything more from you anyways."

" Right...why are you here?"

" Can I stay here tonight?" Umeko asked, seating herself comfortably on the couch.

" What?"

" My bed and sofa aren't here yet," she so obviously lied that it made Quatre extremely curious, " I would appreciate the use of this fine couch if you're willing to supply it."

" Yeah, sure, fine," Quatre waved her off, feigning disinterest.

" Thanks, I don't think I'd like to intrude on anyone else right now," Umeko sighed, " so, we're kind of the same in that respect."

"Oh?" Quatre asked, seating himself across from her on a chair.

" Yeah," Umeko stretched, still in her gown, " We're both grounded from other people."

" So, I wasn't your first choice?" Quatre asked.

" Heavens no," Umeko chuckled, " I don't even know if we're more than aqcauintance."

" Well," Quatre relaxed in the chair and stared off towards the kitchen, " at least we have nothing to lose with each other then."

" So true," Umeko yawned. " Hey, we can use each other for sex when we want so we don't get the urge to talk and accidentally become good friends."

Quatre choked on his surprise. Even for Umeko that seemed like a really crazy thing to just say. He quickly recovered, however, and gave her his response.

" Okay," He said it as calmly as he could, but Umeko still laughed at him.

" Well, I would like to get out of this dress," she chuckled, " and I need something to pass the time until I can go and see little Isabeau again, I'm so glad they picked that name for her, it's so cute."

' Oh, so now we're talking about the baby," Quatre thought, " she sure can change subjects quickly..."

" We should throw a baby shower for them soon," Umeko said, thoughtfully, " They're gonna need everything they can get."

" Yeah..." Quatre said thoughtfully, " Those two have always been such good friends to everyone..."

" Yeah," Umeko nodded, " but for such charitable people, they have the worst living conditions of all of us."

" Huh...here I was feeling sorry for myself all week..." Quatre rested his head on his hand, " Tomorrow I'm going to make sure I do whatever I can for them."

" Alright, you should shut up now before you become my friend," Umeko chuckled, " maybe I could just use the fact that you dumped my sister to balance things out."

" Sounds good."

" How much longer until sunrise?"

" Hmm, about three hours, I guess."

" Perfect, I don't like having sex in the daytime, it loses some of its mystery or whatever..."

" What?" Quatre looked at her strangely, " you mean you actually want to...?"

" Why not?" Umeko looked at him strangely in return, " We'll do it the safe way, nothing will be at risk, and I promise you'll have a fun, satisfying time. Besides, it's so cold and dark, the perfect night to want some company."

" Well, yeah, but," Quatre paused, " don't you think that's a little...extreme?"

" No."

" Oh, well, okay then."

Their kiss broke off with a sigh from both. Hilde sighed again as Wufei wrapped her in a loving hug.

" I love you Hilde," he whispered to her. She tried not to cry.

" I love you too," she finally choked out. Wufei smiled.

His life was perfect.

Akira slowly unlocked her door while Trowa waited patiently beside her. She knew he had few choices in this situation, but she really didn't want to say goodbye to Trowa just yet.

" Oh, um..." she said when she finally got her door open, " would you like some coffee or tea or something? I'd offer you food, but I'm pretty much out, I need to go grocery shopping."

"...sure," Trowa said after a moment of contemplation.

Akira nervously stepped inside her apartment and moved for Trowa to come in after her, closing the door behind him. She switched on lights as she made her way to the kitchen. She thought her hands must have been shaking as she rummaged through some cupboards for the coffee, because she knocked some tea and straws to the floor.

" Damn," Akira said as she bent down to pick everything up.

" What are you so nervous about?" Trowa crouched down next to her to help pick everything up, " it's just me."

Akira looked up at him as he placed everything back in its place and took out the coffee. He gave her a thoughtful look before grabbing the filters and going to the coffee machine. He started making coffee without her while she watched.

" I'm not any more dangerous now," Trowa said as he poured the water in, " No matter what you do, it won't change my mind on anything about you. I want you to be as comfortable around me as you were before."

" I know," Akira said quietly, " it just seems more complicated now."

" I'll do my best to make you comfortable then," Trowa said, " I wouldn't want to ruin anything by pushing you."

" Oh Trowa," Akira smiled, " thank you..."

" Don't mention it," Trowa winked, " I'll leave after coffee."

" Um..." Akira looked down at her hands folded in front of her, " actually, uh...do you think you could...stay...I don't really want to be alone tonight..."

" Really?" Trowa looked at her questioningly.

" Not for...sex or anything..." Akira said, a blush creeping up on her face, " I'd just like to stay with you..."

" Sure thing," Trowa smiled at her.

Duo yawned as he picked his head up from the hospital bed and rubbed his eyes with his left hand. His right hand was currently occupied in holding Haruki's hand. She seemed to have a talent for disabling his limbs in her sleep. He looked up at her and smiled, she was still asleep of course, though daytime revealed itself through the hospital room window. He couldn't blame her after what she'd been through. She still looked so beautiful to him, though, he could never get past that with her. He looked back down at her hand in his and the simple ring on her finger. He turned it over slightly between his fingers and sighed.

" Duo..." He felt her hand move in his and he smiled up at her.

" Good morning," Duo said and bent forward to kiss her forehead.

" How is she?" Haruki asked, sitting up.

" Isabeau? She's doing great so far, they're going to bring her back in soon."

" Heh, good..." Haruki smiled sweetly.

" And how are you?" Duo asked, moving to sit on the edge of the bed.

" Hmm, I feel like I've slept for a year..." Haruki looked over at Duo and chuckled.  
Duo suddenly leaned forward and kissed her, then wrapped his arms around her gently.

" I love you, Haruki," Duo whispered, " we'll make this work somehow. I'll do everything I can to take care of both of you."

" I know Duo," Haruki rested her head against his shoulder, " I trust you."

Quatre rubbed his forehead as he brushed his teeth with his other hand. He was starting to get a mild headache...again. There was so much he could get done today, where to start?

" How about breakfast?" Umeko suggested as she hopped up on the counter beside Quatre, who gave her a strange look.

" As long as you don't expect me to make it," Quatre said after spitting.

" Fine," Umeko smiled, " how burnt do you like your toast?"

" Haven't you lived on your own for years?" Quatre asked as he rinsed his toothbrush. " How did you survive?"

" Mm-mmm," Umeko rubbed her stomach, " Instant Ramen and Cheerios, yum."

Quatre laughed as he rinsed his face off. He jumped and almost hit his head on the sink when Umeko poked him in his bare side with her bare foot.

" Very cute, by the way," Umeko winked, " You should walk around shirtless more often."

" Huh," Quatre dried his face on a towel, " I'll keep that in mind. Of course, that might be more suitable for a much warmer season."

" Naw, there's a heater at work," Umeko smirked, " I can see Une's face now."

" I doubt her glare could come anywhere near to the severity of the one she gave you before your demotion," Quatre said before slipping out of the bathroom.

Umeko sat silent for a short moment, but then laughed, hoping Quatre hadn't caught the brief gloom, " Yeah, I'm the winner in that area. I'd like to see anyone beat my glare record."

But Quatre had caught the brief gloom and despite all efforts, it concerned him. He felt guilty again, but tried to talk himself out of it. Umeko was an independant person if he ever saw one, and he knew she took responsibility for all of her own actions.

" Hm, you're pretty fun to talk to," Umeko said as she jumped off the counter and walked out of the bathroom, " it might not do too much harm if we became friends...with benefits, of course."

Quatre just rolled his eyes as he went into his closet to get a shirt. He actually might enjoy her friendship, even if she was nosy. There was just so much to figure out though, and who would want to go through all of that trouble when they just wanted to hang out with friends. Then again, Umeko hardly seemed like one to divulge information onto someone who didn't want to know.

He found a shirt and started putting it on as he turned around. He almost jumped out of his skin at seeing Umeko right there.

" Funny how things work out, huh?" Umeko said before wrapping her arms around Quatre's neck and bringing him into a kiss. He took several steps back until he was against the far wall. Umeko's hands rushed down to his chest as the eager kisses continued. She pulled the shirt off of his shoulders once more and it didn't take long for her frantic kisses to convince him to slip his arms out. The kisses continued, finding new places to travel, as Quatre slid his hand under the dress slip that Umeko had on, bringing it up toward her shoulders. Umeko unlatched herself from him to allow him to slip the article over her head. But, just as he was about to go back in the hellish waters of her lips, she smoothly slipped away. He blinked at her as she walked to a different part of his closet only in her underwear, his shirt in her hand. She smiled at him as she started to put on the shirt.

" Hey," Quatre could barely find the voice in his throat to complain.

" You didn't answer my question," Umeko smirked as she slipped on the smallest pair of pants she could find. " Isn't it funny how things work out?"

" Yeah," Quatre grumbled, grabbing a new shirt, " hilarious"

When Akira woke up that morning, she knew immediately that Trowa was in the kitchen. She could smell everyhing he was cooking. Eggs, potatoes and toast. It brought a small smile to her face.

" Thank God somebody else understands the importance of potatoes as a staple in every diet." Akira said as she came out of her room and into the kitchenette portion of her apartment.

" Just in time," Trowa smirked as he dished up two plates of food and set them down at the round table, " sit, eat".

" Yes, sir," Akira gave a salute-like motion in his direction before seating herself and pouring out some orange juice into a glass, " you know, you don't really have to do all of this. You've done so much already."

" Hardly," Trowa sat across from her and they both began to pick and eat at their food.

"Seriously..." Akira said before taking a bite of fried potatoe,"...wow, that's really good, my compliments to the chef."

" I wish only for your approval, madam."

" Is that so?" Akira chuckled, raising an eyebrow.

" Well, that and requited, true love." Trowa shrugged.

" Ah, a catch, there's always a catch".

" But for that I would go down on my knees or travel the galaxy or donate an organ or something..."

Akira laughed and rubbed her forehead, "you think that would help?"

" You tell me," he said and got up from his seat.

Akira watched him curiously as he walked over to where she was sitting and she turned in her chair to face him. He went down on his knees and looked up at her.

" ...Is this where your plan ends?" Akira asked after a couple of minutes of them staring at each other.

" Damn," Trowa looked down," just let me think...those are some very ugly slippers, Kira."

" Oh, what are you, the slipper expert?" Akira stuck her tongue out at him.

" No, but I do know ugly shoes, and those have to come off..." Trowa said and took one of the shoes off.

" Hey! I'll have you know these were a present and just what are you doing?" Akira griped as she started to squirm, " I don't like people touching my feet! If requited love is what you're looking for, you're really oing in the wrong direction."

" ticklish?" Trowa smirked as he asked her, but before he could even think about touching the bottoms of her feet, she stood up.

" Don't even think about it!" She said and then chuckled at how serious she sounded about being tickled, " I'd probably just end up kicking you in the face, you know. You got a plan B for what you do after you go down on your knees?"

Trowa looked up at her and sighed. She just blinked down at him as he wrapped his arms around her waist and brought her to him, his head pressed against her stomach.

" My dearest, I can't live without you," Trowa said, making Akira hold her breath, " Treat me as always, no matter what you choose, as your friend. But please, I beg, stay with me and love me as well."

" That... was awfully...dramatic, Trowa..." Akira looke down at him, still surprised.

" Of course," Trowa smirked up at her, " For you, Akira...I pine, I perish..."

Akira sighed as she loosened his grip enough to go down on her knees as well, " you're ridiculous with so little sleep, Trowa."

Trowa smirked as he noticed her sarcastic look soften into something deeper.

And then she kissed him, leaving all of her reserve and anxieties behind.

" So," Trowa whispered after her lips parted from his enough, " This isn't just drunken hormones, right?"

Akira's features broke into a bright smile just for him, " No, Trowa. But then, it never really was, was it?"

Trowa smiled this time and cupped her face in his hands, "No."

Trowa kissed her, hoping she could feel all he felt for her in it. Somewhere in these gentle kisses, Akira said she loved him, but Trowa already knew.

to be continued...

A/N- Holy cow! Hello again, it's been forever and a day! A lot of crap happened, but I was drawn back to this. Okay, so it isn't the last chapter, but it was running too long to wrap it up here. I just love working with all these different relationships. There's the long, forever old-people-like love with Duo and Haruki. The slow, but growing love between Wufei and Hilde. The tumultuous and confusing, but okay in the end kind of love with Akira and Trowa. And then there's Quatre and Umeko...yeah...what to say about them...uh, well, there's getting to be a weird, dysfunctional, annoying, disturbing bond between them...I guess...well, you decide, if there's anybody who will read this anymore. I guess I just like writing it, indulge my brain a bit. Well, thanks for reading if you do, I will wrap this up before next Christmas. I love you.

Supurrkitty

P.S.- I suck again 


	7. Part Seven!

Title: Happy Holidays

Author: Supurrkitty

Archive: pg-13

Warnings: OCs, sexual situations, cussing...(tell me if it should be 'R')

PAIRINGS!!!: 4+OC, 2+OC, some recalling of a 3xOC(not anymore), and hints of 5+H, but it all kind of changed in the last chapter, so I guess you could say: 2+OC(Haruki), no more 4+OC(Akira), still recalling of 3+OC(Umeko), still 5+H, and now the fun one, 3+OC(Akira!)but will it last???

Part Seven!

" We're all coming home tomorrow."

" What? No way, that's great!" Umeko smiled as she balanced her cell phone between her ear and shoulder as she held up various articles of baby clothing.

" Yeah, we didn't expect it, but the doctor said her state is rapidly improving and she can come home..." Umeko heard him trail off again, remembering exactly what home was.

" Don't worry, Duo, tomorrow's Christmas."

" what..." but Umeko flipped her phone closed and stuck it in her purse before he could question her.

" What's the stats on that heater unit, Quatre?" Umeko asked as professionally as she could as Quatre walked back up beside, pocketing his own phone.

" It's installed, don't worry." Quatre chuckled as he saw her gaze critically at a crib set.

" Don't worry?" Umeko raised an eyebrow at him, " this is our most important operation yet, Mr. Winner. This is the future we're talking about."

" I suppose it is, yes," Quatre chuckled and Umeko smiled at him. He was starting to surprise himself with how much more attracted to her he had started to become in such a small amount of time. But then, attraction was the point, wasn't it?

" Now," Umeko turned to him and placed her hand on his shoulder, " let's head on over and see what we can do about that baby room."

" Yes, ma'am."

" I don't see the point of wrapping some and putting others in bags," Wufei said as he watched Hilde wrapping the baby clothes and products on the ground.

" Because," Hilde sighed and looked over at Wufei, " Wrap is cheaper, but you can't wrap everything."

" Well, sure you ca-"

" tastefully," she added quickly. Wufei thought for a second.

" Well, I suppose I can't argue taste with a woman, now can I?" He smiled, mockingly. Hilde just stuck her tongue out at him.

" You'll be smart to help me finish if you want to make it in time to meet up with Akira and Trowa." Hilde nodded to some things that needed bags, obviously not trusting Wufei with the wrapping.

" Of course," Wufei sighed as he settled into his new job, " I wouldn't miss another of their dramafests for the world."

" Just work," Hilde smirked as she whacked him on the arm with a wrapping paper roll.

Wufei grabbed another roll and took the appropriate course of action. Thus starting the great wrapping paper roll war of Christmas Eve.

" Say it again..."

" I love you," Akira laughed before being cut off by another kiss, " Trowa, we're right outside the hospital, we promised to meet Hilde and Wufei."

" I know," Trowa said, grabbing the gifts from the trunk, " I just still can't believe it."

" Heh," Akira wrapped her arms around his waist, " believe it."

He smiled and then kissed her cheek, " alright, let's head in."

" What a disturbing display, if I do say so myself," Wufei said as he and Hilde walked up from behind them, " And here I thought I wouldn't have to see any of you guys on my vacation time at all. But, you guys end up occupying all of it."

" Hey, what are friends for?" Trowa shrugged as they all headed up to where they knew Haruki, Duo and, hopefully, Isabeau to be.

Haruki and Duo were sitting, talking softly to eachother as Isabeau lay sleeping between them when they entered the room. Akira, being the first to enter, was left speechless by the scene, she really didn't want to interrupt this delicately beautiful moment. They both looked up at her though and smiled as the other three came in after.

" Hey guys," Duo smiled with a love and pride she had never known herself, but that she was certain Haruki shared with him.

" H-hi..." Akira said, suddenly floored with emotion. She gestured to the bags and wrapped presents. " We...uh, come bearing gifts..."

" That's too sweet of you guys," Haruki spoke softly from where she sat, " you didn't have to."

" No, we did," Akira was thankful that Hilde spoke up, because speaking was getting hard for her to do, " You two have always been there for all of us, you're always the selfless ones."

" You know we'd do anything to return the favor," Wufei said in a surprisingly easy way for him.

" No matter how much you might tease us inbetween," Trowa added.

" Y-yeah..." was all Akira could say.

In the next couple of hours, they went through all the gifts and talked like friends and laughed like friends and enjoyed company like friends. And the whole idea of friendship solidified in everyone's minds and was accepted as what they most certainly had, no matter the circumstances. Somehow, Akira was just certain that this was all because of family. Haruki and Duo, they were the family, though not yet legally binding, which kept the friends together. Now it was Duo, Haruki and Isabeau which were the family at the center. Families make better friends, which are just another branch of family. There was family brewing in every relationship around her, there were futures and there were pasts, but there was always the present that, no matter how much one tried was the only capable place of dwelling. With friends, with family.

It was when they were about to leave that Duo asked another favor of Wufei and Hilde.

" Do you guys think you could drop this off at the apartment, we're kinda gonna have our hands full tomorrow..." Duo asked as he hand Wufei a spare key.

" Of course," Hilde smiled.

" I guess we'll see you all tomorrow afternoon then?" Haruki asked.

" Are you sure you guys don't want to just be alone as a family?" Akira asked, trying not to impose.

" What are you talking about?" Duo laughed as he wrapped an arm around Haruki's shoulder, " you guys are family."

" We did good things today, Mr.Winner." Umeko said as she raised up a glass of champagne she poured herself.

" Here, here," Quatre said and then drank from his own, " now, why are you still at my house?"

" I have my own clothes..." Umeko trailed of, but got lost in champagne again.

" Yes, but why are you still at my house?" Quatre asked, only pretending to be irritable now.

" I'm bored," Umeko shrugged.

" That's dangerous," Quatre said warily.

" Well, I don't blow things up out of boredom anymore." Umeko defended.

" Well now, that's all a matter of opinion," Quatre tilted his glass towards her

" I'm not sure how I should take that," Umeko laughed, then picked up the bottle, " now what in bloody hell is wrong with this stuff?"

" Let me guess: ' tastes better in bed'," Quatre rolled his eyes.

" It says bath, but suit yourself darling," Umeko stood up, " I'll try bath, you try bed, then we'll get back and find who is right."

" Of course," Quatre sighed as he watched Umeko take the bottle and leave the room. She seemed to have no reserves when it came to him, it was slightly refreshing. She was almost the exact opposite of Akira, but at times he could really tell they were sisters. Remembering this made Quatre feel kind of bad, but Umeko was an unstoppable force, what she wanted, she got, no matter how confusing for others.

Quatre stared down into his glass for a very long time before getting up and going into the bedroom. He set the glass down on the nightstand and collapsed headfirst on the bed. His groan was muffled by the quilt. He looked towards the bathroom attached to the bedroom as he heard Umekos voice start to sing.

" Lonely the life that once I led.  
Strange the paths on which we tred Led me to you, unlikely but true.  
Sabra girl, clouding my view..."

Quatre rested his head on his hands as he listened, wondering what could possess her to sing the way she was. She had a very beautiful voice, Quatre noted. He remembered somebody saying something about her being in a rock band once, but this voice somehow didn't seem fitting to the genre. That might have been why she didn't stick with the band.

" Rainy the day the first time we met.  
Deep was the talk and forever my debt.  
It didn't seem wrong to sing a sad song.  
Sabra girl, soon you'd be gone."

No, Quatre was sure that voice was never meant for rock. It seemed older than that, ancient, beautiful. That's when Quatre started to realize that there was more to Umeko than just show. There had to be with a voice like that. He tried to ignore it.

" Early the morning and sad the goodbye.  
With a wave of your hand and a smile of your eye.  
So lately did meet no sooner depart.  
Sabra girl, homeward must start."

Umeko broke in her singing and stared down at the bubbles in her bath. It had been a while since she had sung this song, or even thought about it really. She had given up singing, but it had always come to her naturally, like so many things in her life. It was the thought of home that made her stop and suddenly feel like crying for the first time in a long time. She shook her head and sighed, then continued to sing.

" Rosy the lines that you wrote with your hand.  
Reading between them to misunderstand,  
I made the mistake you said not to make.

Reading your letters conviction did grow.  
I thought it a chance and I knew I must go.  
It's hard to believe I could be so naive.  
Sabra girl, flattered but decieved."

Umeko got out of the bath and grabbed a towel. She dried herself off and wrapped the towel around her as the tub drained.

" Now you just told me that friendship is all.  
I'm forced to repair the breach in my wall.  
Illusions and dreams as usual it seems.  
Sabra girl, they have been my downfall."

Umeko looked in the mirror after patting her face dry. Her yellowish eyes would never truly show how tired she felt.

" Lonely the life and dismal the view.  
Closed is the road that leads to you.  
Since better can't be as friends we'll agree.  
Sabra girl, time will cure me."

No it won't, Umeko thought as she walked into the bedroom. She stopped in the doorway when she say Quatre collapsed on the bed, looking over at her with a blank look. She crossed her arms over her chest and just looked back. He gave her a small smile, which made her uncross her arms and walk over. She sat on the edge of the bed and combed her fingers through his hair before leaning over and kissing him on his temple, perhaps the most affectionate thing Quatre ever thought she'd do.

" What was that song?" He asked gently. Umeko sighed and fell back against the bed, staring at the ceiling.

" Just something I wrote some years back..." Umeko said as she brought her hands to her head. Quatre turned to his side and then sat up. One hand rested on the other side of Umeko as he looked down at her. He just stared at her staring at the ceiling for minutes on end.

" How many years ago?" Quatre asked. Umeko closed her eyes to the ceiling before opening them again to Quatre.

" About four," She answered. Quatre looked at her with understanding, so she closed her eyes again and sighed. Quatre leaned forward and kissed her softly on the lips. As expected, Umeko wrapped her arms loosely around his neck and returned the kiss.

Akira scurried through the stuff on the floor, looking for the ringing phone. She had been wrapping gifts by herself. She had asked for time alone after the weird emotional experience she had had at the hospital. Trowa agreed to leave, though he was slighty confused at how she was acting. She was too, but she was sure she'd be better tomorrow.

Finally she got to the phone at its last ring and answered with "hello".

" Hey, Akira, it's Hilde."

" Oh, hi Hilde," Akira was a little confused, not used to getting calls from her, "what's up?"

" I'm over at Duo and Haruki's place here, and...well..." Hilde paused and chuckled, " I think your sister did something over here that you should see."

" What?" Akira was really confused now.

" Just come over, it's only a couple of blocks away, right?" Hilde asked.

" Uh, yeah, I'll be right there." Akira said and ended the call. She grabbed her jacket and threw it on, stepping into her shoes. She hurriedly locked up, extremely curious at what she might find. When she got outside she noticed the layer of white over everything and the snow slowly falling all around. She smiled and began plodding through it towards her destination. What could Umeko have done?

" That was quick," Wufei remarked as Akira walked into the apartment. It was nice, but kinda small for a family.

" In here," Hilde remarked excitedly from the doorway to a smaller room. As Akira entered, the first thing she noticed was the colors, pink, purple, blue, etc.. She looked around and noticed the room had been trimmed with butterfly print of all colors. A beautiful crib was set up with butterfly accesories. Everything was there, right down to an automatic bottle warmer. And there in the crib sat something that didn't quite fit, but that Akira recognised. It was a dark, worn teddy bear that Umeko had once swore she would pass down to her first born. Akira had always thought it was kind of ugly, but Umeko felt that was part of its charm. Akira covered her mouth as she took the room in once more.

" There's a new heater unit as well, it's amazing," Hilde added, " but how did your sister have enough money for this."

" She doesn't..." Akira said and then realized, " Quatre must have helped her."

"..." Hilde stared at Akira speechlessly, realizing that it must have been true. Surely Wufei must have already guessed all of this.

" Can I..." Akira looked over at Hilde with tears in her eyes, " can I please borrow your phone, Hilde?"

" S-sure..." Hilde handed her the cellphone and watched her as she left the apartment for privacy. Wufei walked looked at Hilde and she glared back.

" Why didn't you tell me?" Hilde asked.

" It wouldn't have gone right if I had," Wufei explained, " and she wouldn't have gotten to the point that she's at."

" What makes you think all of this is going to turn out okay now? It could all just get worse!" Hilde threw her hands up in exasperation.

" We'll just have to see then."

" C'mon..." Akira grumbled into the phone as she heard it ring yet again. Finally it just went to the voicemail. Akira thought of hanging up, but instead took a deep breath and left a message. She went back in, gave Hilde the phone, apologized and said she had to leave, then left for home.

Duo stroked Haruki's hair away from her neck and then kissed it. She smirked up at him from where she was standing, watching Isabeau sleep.

" Now don't start that, that's why we're where we are right now." Haruki said, looking back down at Isabeau.

" I can't help it, you're just too beautiful," Duo smiled, hugging her from behind and burying his face in her hair, " besides, where we are right now is perfect. I'm in bliss."

" Yeah well, we'll see after about a thousand diapers," Haruki wrapped her fingers around Duo's, " Beside's add another to the mix, there would never be a quite moment."

" I despise quite moments," Duo whispered into her ear and then tickled her side, making her shriek, " will you marry me?"

" You already asked that question and I already said yes," Haruki answered.

" Oh yes, of course, how absent-minded of me," Duo lifted up her left hand and examined her ring finger, " I was wondering where this cheap looking ring came from."

" Hey," Haruki snatched her hand back from him and turned to face him, " I cherish this ring, the love of my life gave it to me and I'm going to marry him and we'll spend eternity together."

" Hm, he must be a pretty dreamy guy to deserve that," Duo took a step closer to her with a devilish grin.

" Eh," Haruki made a so-so motion, " he's pretty average..."

Duo laughed before running his fingers down the side of Haruki's glowing face. He leaned down and kissed her.

" You'll get a real wedding, I promise."

" Duo, be serious," Haruki sighed and stepped back.

" I am, Haruki," Duo said defensively, " I can work it out, seriously."

" We're hardly going to be able to scrape by as a family anyways," Haruki said, turning and touching Isabeau's forehead lightly, " I almost feel guilty..."

Duo sighed and looked up at the ceiling.

" Maybe I can't make anything better or perfect..." Duo said finally, " but I can try."

"...I'm sorry," Haruki said.

Duo smiled and hugged Haruki again, kissing her cheek, then looked back down at their tiny child, " Isabeau's not worried..."

" We don't make any sense, you know."

" I don't think that's the point," Quatre said as he ran his fingers through a lock of Umeko's hair, " do you dye your hair?"

" No, my hair's just blue naturally." Umeko rolled her eyes.

" Well you never know, could be a genetic mutation."

" So now I'm a mutant..." Umeko turned onto her stomach and looked up at Quatre, " I used something weird to dye my hair when I had my band, it hasn't come out since."

" Some things you just can't get rid of, I guess," Quatre remarked.

" Oh, are you complaining about me again?"

" No, actually, I was just thinking about your song."

" Let's not go there..." Umeko sighed and fell back down to the bedsheets.

" You've taught me a lot, Umeko." Quatre looked down at her hair against the cream sheets.

" Oh?" Umeko looked back up at him.

" I don't know how to explain it..." Quatre pushed hair away from her face and studied her eyes, " what we're doing is wrong."

" So wrong," Umeko smirked.

" But, at the same time, you aren't doing anything wrong," Quatre said, running his thumb over her lips, " you're still a good person...and you're still hurting inside..."

" Quatre, I don't like where this conversation is going."

" I know," Quatre blinked at her, " and that's just all the more revealing. I know why we keep coming back to each other, Umeko. We can't face the pain..."

Umeko sighed and then looked away from him. She sat up and grabbed one of the sheets, wrapping it around herself. " Been there, done that."

Umeko walked out of the room, the end of the sheet trailing closely after. Quatre sat up and watched her leave. Then, he sighed and collapsed back onto the bed, studying the ceiling once more. Well, maybe this was the end of their crazy platonic relationship, if you could call it anything like that.

Umeko walked over to the couch and picked up her purse. She was trying to dig out some of her pills when she came across her phone. She noticed that she had two missed calls. She flipped it open to check them. The first one was from Duo and Haruki, describing and argueing about whether Isabeau smiled or not. It made Umeko smile just listening to it and then she got to Akira's message.

" Hi, Umeko, it's Akira...your sister...yeah, like you didn't know that, well anyways, I was just calling because, well...I just saw the room and the apartment and...well, I know it was you and Quatre...It got me thinking a little more about you and all the stuff you've been through...all the stuff we've been through...I just felt I really needed to let you know some things... I know we're messed up right now and a lot of that has to do with other people, but...Love can come and go, relationships can come and go...We of all people should know boys come and go, by God...No matter what happens or how much we end up pissing each other off or hurting each other, you're always going to be my sister, nobody else can take that place...and there's no way that anything could take away the love I have for you...If we're together, I know I'll be fine...well, that's about it and I'm sorry for any pain I might have caused you. I love you."

The message cut off and Umeko stared down at the open phone. She wiped tears away from her face only to be replaced by twice as many. Her sister loved her unconditionally...really, unconditionally. No matter how much she knew her sister had disagreed with her philosophies and choices in life over the last five years, she loved her just the same. Umeko buried her face in the sheet as her sobs became too much to bear. Even if she wanted, she would never be alone. Why did she want to be alone anyways?

' We can't face the pain...'

Quatre was right, though she hadn't wanted to admit it. The answers that seemed close to the surface for him were buried deep inside of her. Deep down she knew that without that pain, there would be no beauty in life.

Umeko got up and hurried back into the bedroom. Quatre watched her curiously as she dressed. She was tripping over her boots to get them on when she finally noticed Quatre again.

" I have to go," She stated, finally winning the shoe battle. " My sister needs me."

" Akira," Quatre said almost in a whisper. Umeko looked up at him as if understanding him for the first time and then smiled.

" You were right," She hurried over to him and kissed him square on the lips, taking him by surprise, " thank you for your help..."

And then she floated away as quickly as a snowflake caught in a flurry. Quatre shook his head and got dressed. He went into the front room and looked around, wondering what to do. That's when he saw Umeko's purse lying open on the ground. He went over and noticed her phone sitting beside it flipped open. On instinct he examined the screen. It showed the list of calls and messages. Quatre recognized Akira's name and Quatre realized the catalyst that set off Umeko's 180 turn. And now she was out in the snow somewhere, probably driving recklessly to get to Akira. It must have been some message she had left. He knew Akira always had a gentle way of her own. There was a vague strength, however, that he knew those sisters shared.

" I'm such an idiot," Quatre flipped the phone closed and put it in Umeko's purse, " oh well, too late now, I guess..."

Umeko hurried up the concrete steps, slipping on ice every now and then, but catching herself. Who would have thought it would be so cold at night in the wintertime. She finally got to the top and opened the door to the hallway. She exhaled in relief and ran her hands through her hair, letting some snow fall to the ground. She calmly proceeded down the hall.

" Umeko," She turned at hearing her name and saw Trowa step into the hall, the snow still settling on the shoulders of his coat.

" Trowa, what are you doing here?" Umeko asked in surprise.

" I, uh, well..." Trowa loosened the scarf around his neck, Umeko just rolled her eyes and turned back around, " I was worried about Akira...but, you're here, so that's good..."

" Worried?" Umeko stopped again and turned around.

" She said she wanted to be alone and I guess I should just leave, but...something has really been bugging her ever since we left the hospital today," Trowa walked up to Umeko, " I'd like to know what it is."

" Yeah, well," Umeko started irritably, but then calmed her demeanor and started to walk away again, " It's all a matter of family..."

" Family..." Trowa echoed and tried to follow. Umeko stopped again.

" I really liked you, you know." Umeko turned around and looked up into his eyes, he knew, " I never should have slept with you. Nothing good came from it. I mean, I'm just now getting my old job back..."

" I loved you, Umeko," Trowa interrupted.

"...I know," Umeko nodded.

" I never meant for any of this to happen." Trowa looked over to where he knew Akira's door was, " There were definitely mistakes, though..."

" What, like getting caught in the boardroom?" Umeko said and Trowa gave a mocking thoughtful look.

" Hmm, you know, that might have been one of them," Trowa smiled down at Umeko, " You should go, Akira needs you more than she needs me."

" Thanks Trowa," Umeko smiled genuinely and gratefully at him, " But you know, she really needs you too...don't be too far away, she might just need you soon."

" Sure," Trowa nodded and watched as Umeko went to Akira's door and then he turned to go back into the cold.

Umeko took a big breath before knocking on the door.

" Coming," she heard rustling from inside before the clacking of unlocking the door.

"...Umeko," Akira paused after seeing her sister.

" That's me," Umeko gave a small wave, " I got your message."

Umeko was starting to get nervous at the silence when Akira wrapped her arms around her in an embrace. Umeko immediately hugged her back and patted her head. She could feel her sister shutter in her arms and she gave way to her own tears.

" Tell me, Akira," Umeko barely breathed out, "will I ever learn my lesson?"

" Geez, how many cookies do you have to make?"

" Just shut up and get to sprinkling," Hilde pointed her finger authoritatively, flipping flour onto the floor.

" What a demeaning job..." Wufei groaned before getting back to work.

" Anyways, we need enough for everybody," She got back to mixing the dough, " If I remember correctly, it was you who insisted on staying late to help."

" Ah yes, it was so long ago I hardly remember," Wufei went to put another batch of cookies in the oven.

" You complain too much," Hilde sighed.

" Yeah well, it's a small price to pay for everything else," Wufei walked over to her side.

" Ego, ego..." She muttered distractedly as she tried to roll out the cookie dough, but it stuck to the pin.

" Here," Wufei reached around her and took the pin as she let him have it. He grabbed up some flour and rubbed it onto the rolling pin. " Most of your baking malady questions can be answered with flour, whether it be the cure or the cause."

" Thank you, Dr.Chef," Hilde said as Wufei started to do her job for her, putting her into an awkward position between his arms, she put her hands back on the handles next to his, " I think I can handle it from here."

" Oh? I'm not so sure," Wufei continued even when he swore he could sense her eyes rolling.

" I got along fine for many years before you came along, you know."

Wufei let go of the pin and bent down to kiss Hilde on the cheek. When she turned just enough to look at him in surprise, he kissed her on the lips, bringing her smile back out.

" What was that for?" Hilde turned around all the way and smiled up at him. He just smirked with hidden humor. He poked her nose(merp) and then retreated to his designated sprinkle station. Hilde blinked after him.

" Alright, okay, maybe not as fine."

Trowa had heard her coming down the stairs behind him, but he had not expected her to jump down the last four steps.

" How can you stand to do that in heels?" Trowa asked in awe.

" Your turn," Umeko said simply, pointing up towards the top of the staircase, reminding Trowa of why he was waiting in the snow.

" What? What happened?" Trowa asked, " Is everything alright?"

" Why don't you just go see for yourself," Umeko replied, then went to leave, but stopped, " oh yeah, one more thing, you hurt my sister and I will kill you."

" Oh, okay, " Trowa knew to take her seriously, " Isn't that Quatre's shirt?"

" God, what, does he wear the exact same shirt everyday?" Umeko shook her head, " You and Akira are both so observant."

Trowa was worried now about Akira and got up to go to her. Umeko watched him disapear back into the building and felt loss and envy tug at her heart. She acknowledged the pain there, but she also acknowledged the love and happiness beside it.

" I'm glad I messed it up with you," Umeko whispered, tears stinging in her eyes, " my sister deserves your love so much more."

" Akira, are you alright?" Trowa didn't even wait after knocking on the door.

" Don't you people ever sleep?" A grumpy guy had opened the door at hearing yet more noise in his hallway. Trowa just raised an eyebrow at him before knocking on the door again. This time it immediately opened.

" What are you doing?" Akira asked with some amusement in her voice as she dragged him in. Trowa looked back to see the grumpy man shake his head as he retreated back into his apartment. Akira closed the door and looked up at him expectantly. " Well?"

'uh-oh..., I wonder what Umeko said...' Trowa thought, but then said, " I was worried about you."

Trowa was relieved when she smiled at him, but entirely surprised when she started kissing him. He blinked down at her when she was done.

" Wow...I guess Umeko put in a good word for me?"

" Oh yeah," Akira nodded before going to kiss him again.

At seeing Quatre enter the waiting room, Haruki stood up. He hadn't been to see her once since she was in the hospital, though she knew he was there the night of Isabeau's birth. She figured now, from seeing the sleepless state he seemed to be in, that it was because of an escalation of the events she had heard about.

Quatre saw her and started to walk over. Haruki looked down at the couch. Duo was there, catching up on his own lost sleep. Haruki smiled then walked to meet Quatre.

" Hi," she said quietly, looking up at him.

" Hi," he said in return, giving her a smile.

" C'mon," she said, walking past him, " let's go get some coffee."

" Okay," Quatre replied, following her

" So, what happened?" Haruki cut right to the chase when they stepped into the elevator.

" I made everything worse," Quatre said, leaning against the rail on the elevator.

" Yes, I know," Haruki said with a sigh.

" How much do you know?" Quatre asked

" You didn't come visit me because you banished yourself from the rest of us and you don't even know why, I mean, you started all of this in the first place." Haruki stated.

" Not all of you..." Quatre looked down at the ground.

" Umeko?" Haruki asked and Quatre nodded as the elevator door opened. They stepped out and started walking.

" I slept with her," Quatre said, making Haruki turn and look at him, " twice..."

" Right..." Haruki started walking again and Quatre followed. " I know what you're thinking, but don't worry, you didn't take advantage of her. She's a grown woman and she knows what she's doing, despite how much it hurts herself and others. Trowa had the same anxieties."

" Oh...yeah..." Quatre slowed down his walking at remembering what happened a few years back.

" Duo knows Umeko better than me, " Haruki said as she slowed down to his pace, " But I do know you, Quatre and I know something has been terribly off with you, even when you don't talk to me."

" I'm sorry," Quatre said, realizing that he had stopped talking to her as much in these last months, even though she probably needed it more.

" It's fine. But, Quatre..." Haruki looked up at him, " You need to figure out what's really been bothering you. It started before you split with Akira, but that made it worse."

" Yeah..."

" The last time you talked to me very seriously," Haruki stopped at the coffee machines, " It was about family. That's always been important to you."

" Yeah, I guess so," Quatre put his hands in his pockets and watched as she prepared a cup of coffee, " I guess that could be it. I mean...I have a huge family, though I hardly see them anymore...and then I have you guys."

" That's right," Haruki smiled as she brought the coffee up to her face and inhaled, " And you'll always have us, even if you turn into a bitter old man."

" That's a thought," Quatre chuckled.

" Oh, but you've already established yourself as the Scrooge of this years Christmas," Haruki took a sip and gave him an amused look, " You're rich, you're bitter and everybody knows it."

" That's not very nice. True, but still not nice," Quatre leaned against the wall, " I guess I just feel like I'm going through my life not really caring."

" Heh, I think we all feel like that sometimes," Haruki smiled warmly and leaned against the wall beside him, " But Quatre, you should feel more important than that. You do wonderful things in your job. Your jobs, actually. You're really someone people admire...well, as long as they don't see you like this."

" You mean it?" Quatre asked.

" Come on, you were a Gundam pilot, you helped save millions and then you dedicated your life to repairing this war-scarred world," Haruki patted his shoulder, " Sure, now you're feeling a little sick at the monotony of your day-to-day, but that won't last forever. And when you really work yourself out of that funk, it's not going to be this painful chaos you've created, it's going to be peace. Peace of mind and, of course, peace between loved ones and friends."

" Okay...but, what do I have to do?"

" Well," Haruki sighed and pushed herself off the wall and began to walk back towards the elevator with Quatre trailing after, " I suppose you have to just do the right thing and wait for Karma to throw you a bone."

" The right thing, huh?" Quatre watched his feet as they walked, " I guess that all makes sense."

" Of course it does, but just remember," She stopped and pushed the button on the elevator before turning to him again, " the right thing to do can oftentimes be the hardest thing to do."

Quatre nodded and smiled at the small woman warmly. Now he remembered why he had once fallen for this girl, no, this woman. She was the strongest gentle person he had ever known. And now, she was somebody's loving mother and she was going to make a loving wife to one of his best friends.

" Before I leave," Quatre said when they were back on the first floor, " can I see Isabeau?"

" Of course," Haruki smiled and nodded towards the nursery, " just promise me one thing."

" Yeah?"

" That you'll always know that you're not alone," Haruki put her hand on his cheek softly and looked him in the eye, " and you won't seclude yourself from us anymore."

" I promise," He said, relaxing under her touch, " you know, you really are going to be a wonderful mother."

" I know," Haruki folded her hands in front of her and continued to the nursery, " well, well, look who's here..."

Quatre looked up through the glass of the large nursery window and held his breath. Duo was in there of course, but standing beside him, gently holding Isabeau was Umeko. Her face glowed as she gazed down at the tiny miracle she held tenderly in her arms. Quatre noticed that, for once, her hair was not perfect and her shirt, well, actually, his shirt was partially untucked from her wool skirt. Her mascara was smudged and her lipstick was gone. The flawless image she had seemed to convey constantly and fix almost instantly was gone, but he had never felt more endeared at the sight of her.

" Hmm, you know..." Haruki had been watching his reaction to the sight, " some things happen for a reason. Come on."

Haruki grabbed his wrist and led him to the enterance of the nursery. She slowly opened the door, careful to not make too much noise.

" One thing's for sure," Umeko said quietly to Duo, " You and Haruki sure do make beautiful babies."

" Heh, I'd credit that to Haruki," Duo laughed as he softly stroked Isabeau's forehead with one finger, " You think you'll ever have children?"

" Me? You kidding?" Umeko laughed quietly, " I could never trust myself enough to have one of my own."

" Well, I trust you enough to hold ours," Duo said, " And, you know, babysit..."

" Ah-hah, I see what you're trying to do here," She raised an eyebrow at Duo, but then smiled gently at him, " You know...I always felt bad for you guys, like this was some terrible predicament you found yourselves in, but...you really have a lot to be thankful for, don't you?"

" You betcha," Duo said, then shook his head, " I mean, we do have some worries, but, when you get right down to it, the things that really matter always make those things easier to deal with."

" Oh, you're so wise, Duo," Umeko said half-mockingly, " You know, for a guy who fathered a child out of wedlock."

" Oh, you're simply hilarious," Duo gave her a small glare before noticing their small audience, " There you are...hey, Quatre."

Umeko's head shot around and her eyes met with Quatre's. He gave her a small smile as she blinked back.

" Mmm, is that coffee?" Duo sauntered up to Haruki and reached for the cup, " Thank you so much, honey..."

" Oh, well, you're welcome," Haruki said sarcastically, rolling her eyes as he took the cup, " Quatre, you want to hold her."

" What?" Quatre tore his eyes away from Umeko and stared at Haruki as if she were crazy.

" Isabeau," Haruki clarified with amusement.

" Oh, yeah, sure," Quatre answered uncertainly. Umeko stepped forward, carefully cradling the baby in her arms until she got close enough to hand her off to Quatre. He took her in his arms and smiled down at her. The baby stared back up at him with dark pools of eyes that obviously wondered who the hell he was, and yet didn't make a fuss. Quatre wondered how there could be such a calm baby. He guessed that the heavens sent her down to this young couple because they needed the help.

" I think she's tired," Quatre whispered when he saw her yawn widely and her eyes drift shut.

" She's had a long first day," Haruki smiled proudly as she took the child from Quatre and made her way to the rocking chair they had set up in the room.

" Uh, I guess I should get going," Quatre said as he watched her take a seat witht he tiny child and Duo moved protectively near the two.

" Yeah, me too," Umeko said as they both moved towards the exit.

" Be good," Duo called after them as they exited, but Umeko simply waved dismissively.

" I love those guys," Umeko said seriously as they were about to exit the hospital into the chilly night.

" Yeah, me too," Quatre smiled and looked up at the sky as they walked towards the parking lot. It was snowing again. Light flakes floated down all around, settling in their hair and disolving on their skin. He looked over at Umeko, who looked slightly chilly due to her skirt, but still happy with the weather. She wrapped her scarf once more around her neck and sighed, her breath leaving a steamy cloud which quickly dissipated in the air. Quatre wrapped his arm around her shoulder before he knew what he was doing and chuckled.

" What?" Umeko raised an eyebrow at him.

" Wanna cup of coffee?" He asked her.

" No," She shook her head with a smile, " But I suppose I could choke some down."

The last batch of cookies had been put in the oven and the mess had been cleaned up. Wufei and Hilde were exhaustedly collapsed on her couch watching It's a Wonderful Life.

" I don't think I'll be able to finish watching without falling asleep," Hilde whined, burying her face in the throw she was usuing as a pillow.

" The movie barely started," Wufei responded, "...I'm already lost, what's going on?"

" You have to see all of his life story first to really get the rest of the story," Hilde defended.

" I see..." Wufei said dully.

" And you have to see him lasso the moon."

" What?" Wufei looked at her as if she were crazy.

" Yes, it's that romantic scene that is supposed to inspire guys to buy jewelry for their sweetheart for christmas...Dunno why," Hilde scratched her head and yawned, " I guess it's the best thing next to getting the moon."

" That doesn't make any sense," Wufei admitted, wondering just how delusionally tired she actually was.

" I know, girls don't make sense," Hilde chuckled, then pointed to the television, " watch."

Wufei obediantly watched as the scene came up with a man and woman walking down a street wearing ridiculous looking clothes and then throwing rock at the windows of an old house.

'What is it you want Mary? What do you want? You want the moon? Just say the word and I'll throw a lasso around and pull it down. Hey, that's a pretty good idea. I'll give you the moon, Mary'

'I'll take it. ANd then what?'

' Well, then you could swallow it and it'd all dissolve, see? And the moonbeams'd shoot out of your fingers and your toes and the-'

" What were these people on?" Wufei interrupted before being shushed by Hilde.

'Am I talking too much?'

' Yes!! Why don't you kiss her instead of talking her to death?'

" Ah," Wufei thought he finally understood why this was supposed to be so romantic. But, as he continued to watch there was some ridiculous stuff with a bathrobe and then a dramatic shift as George was called because his father had a stroke.

" They didn't kiss," Wufei stated, as if it was the most unusual thing in the world.

" Dissapointed?" Hilde looked over at him in amusement.

" Well...yeah, kinda..." Wufei sighed, " I don't get it, is the promise of something impossible really that romantic to women?"

" Hmm, it's really more of a metaphor for something seemingly as impossible..." Hilde thought for a second, sitting up and then looked devilishly over at him, " Like, say, when a seeminlgy emotionally stale man plans a romantic meal to show a girl how he feels."

" Hmm, now where have I heard that before?" Wufei rolled his eyes as Hilde leaned closer into him and pecked him on the lips. He smiled and returned the contact with a bit more passion. He leaned further forward, his hand resting on the back of her head, delighting in the feel of her soft lips and the smell of flour which still lingered from making all the cookies.

" Chang Wufei lassos moon..." Hilde whispered when she got a breath before letting herself be kissed again.

" You're just not right in the head," Trowa laughed, wrapping his arms tighter around Akira, " You know that?"

" Hey, I bought this dress for a reason and I fully intend to use it," She threw her head back, her emerald eyes dancing as much as she was.

The two were currently dancing right in the middle of her apartment, Akira fully decked out in her beautiful green silk dress. She had turned on some Christmas music and even did her hair. The only odd thing other than the fact that they were in her apartment was the fact that they were both shoeless, wearing only comfy socks on their feet.

" Dip me," she said dramatically and he complied, both of them erupting in laughter. When she came back up, she let her hand rest just beside his neck and smiled up at him. It was cold in her apartment, but she felt infinitely warm next to him. Especially now that everything felt right.

It was there, finally, that christmas spirit she had been missing. She was thankful beyond words.

" Okay, now dip me," Trowa said, but ended up just falling backwards, Kira following after him. Again they erupted in laughter. Akira didn't even seem to mind if any harm came to her dress. Kira rested against his chest in total bliss.

" You're my best friend," Kira said happily.

" Hm...I don't remember drinking anything, but...are we drunk?" Trowa asked, softly sweeping some hair away from her face.

" Well, we certainly seem to be acting that way," Akira said.

" You remember what happened last time we got drunk..." Trowa warned.

" Yeah, you became my sexy best friend," She smiled and pulled herself up to his face leaving a small kiss on his lips.

" Hmm...sexy best friends, sounds good," Trowa closed the gap between them again, his hands resting on the open back of her dress, feeling the soft exposed skin there. Akira smiled before moving her mouth confidently against his and running her hands up his chest seductively and moving her kisses to his neck.

" Kira..." Trowa managed, his hands now wandering a little more dangerously. Kira smiled as she noticed this and promptly got off of him and stood up. He looked up at her, perplexed, but she just winked over her shoulder.

" I'm gonna slip into something more comfortable," She purred and went into the other room. Trowa just sat on the floor in his frazzled state until she came back a couple of minutes later, dressed in, well, very comfortable looking pajamas. He chuckled when she stood over him once more and held out her hand.

" You owe me another dance," she stated. He got up and wrapped his arms around her.

" As many as you want," He said with a slight bow when he let go of her.

" For as long as I wanT?" She asked with a makeshift curtsey and they both took up their dancing position as a slow song came on the radio.

" Forever if you want."

to be continued...One more left!!! I swear!

A/N- HAHAHAHAHA, I will finish this, so stop asking, you imaginary reviewers! Yes, I've lost it, but I'm old enough now that I've gained that right. A lot happened in this chapter and everything is just about resolved, now to wrap it up in a beautiful, joyous package for christmas. That song up there is actually by Nickel Creek, btw...they're my favorite band. Heheh, Trowa and Akira are kinda goofy in that last bit, huh? It reminds me of how I used to be during the holidays, but something changed last year, I guess...I'm having so many holiday issues this year, on top of being sick. There's just something wrong this year...but, writing this helps me get a little more in the spirit, that and making pies and chocolates for people. Anyways, please review and maybe I'll finish by the new year.

Supurrkitty

P.S.- I'm so old...(not really) 


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